Kusagakure's Fox
by xerna
Summary: 10 year old Naruto arrived in Kusagakure in the dead of the night, injured on the inside and out. Now 14 years later her old wounds are reopening as reminders of her past appear and her peaceful home is thrown into chaos. Fem!Naru. No pairing as of yet.
1. Preparations

Author's Note: Hi! This is my first fanfiction ever so I'm kinda nervous and excited to see where it goes. The story is about FEMALE Naruto, and it /might/ become a Itachi/Naruto we'll have to wait and see. Also Naruto is in Kusagakure (Village Hidden in the Grass), not Konoha. Enjoy!

Naruto swung her legs over the edge of her bed as her alarm rang, her bare feet resting over the carpeted floor. She reached up toward the ceiling, yawning as she stretched. She lowered them after hearing a crack. She reached over to her nightstand and hit her alarm clock off. When the blonde stood, her baggy t-shirt slipped over her shoulder, not that she paid it any attention. It belong to her old genin teammate, Kenji Tanku. She had stolen it along the line somewhere and he had never asked for it back. Naruto traded the baggy shirt for a pair of knee length black shorts, and a fitted white top with her clan's spiral symbol on her back. Naruto went about her morning routines, such as eating and hygienic things, until she found herself standing in front of the wooden door, finally ready for the day. She pulled her long blonde hair into a high ponytail, slipped on her ninja sandals and pulled the door open.

Outside was dim of course, like it was every morning, and that was because she resided in the forested area of Kusagakure. It was mostly used for training, but it was also an enemy ninja hotspot. Countries that would invade the village used the forest as entry, so Naruto decided to place herself in the middle of it all. Not many invading villages made it to Kusa, but a few missing nins did. The people depended on her to keep the peace or at least try too. That was her duty as council member.

The jinchuriki looked over the woods, filled with giant trees and oddly giant mushrooms attached to them. She didn't question the mushrooms much anymore. What she was looking for was the children. Sometimes they would come to her house in the morning, and she didn't mind it. They had first been a wake-up call, pounding on her door at 7 in the morning. Now she looked forward to seeing them and made sure to be out of the house before their arrival.

She listened to the silent forest and could slowly start to hear faint cries of "Naruto-sama!" ringing out into the day, and became louder as the group neared. Eight kids flung themselves at her, all trying to hug her waist. Naruto winced a little as they squeezed tight. She patted the nearest children on the head, grinning when they looked up at her with big smiles.

"Alright alright, let go before we all fall over." She said with a chuckle as the children reluctantly removed themselves from her. "Tomorrow's the Fox Festival, isn't it?"

"Yep! I'm excited for all of games!" A little red-head named Yuki spoke. Naruto always laughed inwardly at the difference in Yuki's name and appearance. She certainly wasn't anything like snow, Naruto knew that. She knew most of these kids since they were born. The Fox Festival was supposed to celebrate her; she didn't really like having a whole festival to herself but they treated her like family. Like she was special, and in truth, she was.

"How about we get a head start on those games?" Naruto said with a smirk, grabbing Yuki by the waist, and began tickling her. The girl's laugh could have shook the forest. The tickle fight was on. The kids turned on each other in an instant and the tickling went on for around five minutes. Yuki was in tears, as were half of the kids.

"Hey! Let's get Naruto-sama!" A chubby boy named Zo called out to his peers. Their new target was Naruto.

"Uh oh." She gulped and was suddenly gone. The kids pouted in defeat. "Sorry kiddies! Not this time, we need to help with preparations, right? That's why you came to get me." They turned to see Naruto leaning against the tree. "Then let's go," She pushed off the rough bark, leading the kids out of the trees.

Kusagakure wasn't a big village, but it wasn't small. It was home to a little over seven thousand people. They fished from their many rivers, farmed what they could from clearings or moors in the country, and was relatively peaceful- apart from the shinobi in training of course. They made a lot of noise sometimes. It was located in the middle of the Land of Trees, between the Land of Fire and the Land of Stone. The country's land was used as a battleground during wars between Konohagakure and Iwagakure. As of lately, tension was rising between the two grand countries, all because of some Iwa genin that disappeared in the Fire country.

Kusagakure was trying to be optimistic, trying not to let an impending war stop their festival. The children seemed to know something, as their antics were getting less crazy as the days passed by. The village was doing it's best to improve defences and train their shinobi to be in top shape. They just might get dragged into a war as well. The Fox Festival was a way for everyone to relax and have a little fun.

"Good morning Naruto-sama!"

"How are you doing today, Naruto-sama?"

"Hope those kids aren't bothering ya too much, Naruto-sama."

People greeted her left and right, and she took time to have a short conversation with each villager that talked with her. Asking about their children, spouses, or their pets. Naruto loved talking with the villagers, and she loved being around them.

Naruto and her group stopped in front of the supply store, where all of the supplies for the Fox Festival were being held.

"Alright! Let's get started!" Naruto shouted, raising her fist. The kids hurrahed in response. "Yuki and Zo, I want you two to go round up some of the genin, you'll be charge of the streamers. Lero and Sora, you'll be setting up the lanterns along the streamers." The four saluted and left to complete their job. "Tori, Hane, Tsuri, and Akiha, why don't you head down to Hachi-san's house and help with painting the fox masks?" The rest of the children nodded and started running down the road.

The blonde sighed as she watched the kids scamper to finish their task, at least now she could work in peace. She turned toward the store and pushed the door open, hearing the familiar ding of the bell above her.

"Hello! Welcome to Akamine General Store, how can I- oh! Naruto! Came here to help prepare for the festival?" Akamine Akarui greeted from the counter at the back. Her brown mid-back length hair was tied up neatly in a bun for the work day. A green apron was tied around her waist, resting on a pair on black shorts and a loose white shirt. Naruto grinned and gave a half wave.

Naruto had know Akarui since she came to Kusagukure, so one could say they were childhood friends. They had met when they were ten, and now fourteen years later, still stood strong. The blonde had been reluctant to make friends at first, but quickly fell into the easy lifestyle of living in Kusagakure. Naruto had been put in the same class as Akarui at the shinobi academy, and then on the same Genin team along with Kenji. After they had become chunins, Akarui decided fighting wasn't for her, she became a med-nin. _She just mans her parent's shop these days though. Lazy ass doesn't even go on many missions._

"You know me! Even if supposed to be for me, I can't not help." She said as she trotted up to the front.

"Well if you're so eager to help, take inventory." Akarui grabbed a clipboard from underneath the counter, and shoved if into Naruto's hands. Akarui was also Naruto's most trusted and closest friend. Not many knew were the blonde originated from, Akarui was one of the few. Of course the Leader knew, as well as the other council members.

Naruto groaned loudly. She hated taking inventory. "Hey! You wanted to help!"

"I know, I know." She slumped a bit before hopping over the counter and pushed through the curtains to the back.

_The lanterns, streamers, and masks are already checked off, so I guess Akarui started._

_Kabob sticks, check. Bowls, check. Balloons, check._

Naruto went about the store room, checking things off on her list as she passed by them. She stopped in front of stack on four boxes. They were blank, no mentions of what was in them. "Hey, Akarui? There are some unlabelled boxes in here."  
"Well open them up," Akarui rolled her eyes as she entered the store room, long past wondering why Naruto couldn't have figured that out herself. She reached the stack to find Naruto peering into the top box.

"Kunai..." The blonde breathed, trying not to let Akarui hear her. "Guess they got the wrong store." She slapped the cover back down before Akarui could look in. "I'll take them to the right place, no worries!" She quickly pulled out a scroll, and sealed them into it. Satisfied that she got it right, she tucked the scroll into the pouch rest on her back. "I'll be back in a minute,"

"Wait, what was-" Before Akarui could finish her question, Naruto disappeared in a plume of smoke. "Damn her," She gritted her teeth. Reluctantly, Akarui picked up the clipboard Naruto had left behind on one of the boxes and got back to work.

Naruto reappeared in front of the local shinobi weapons shop, Tanku Shinobi Shop. She entered the shop to be greeted by Mirai Tanku-obasan. The old woman's face wrinkled up even more as she smiled at Naruto.

"Afternoon Tanku-obasan! Akamine accidentally got your shipment, I guess. Sorry about the mix up." Naruto rubbed her neck before fetching the scroll from behind her.

"Oh! I guess that's why I had some festival supplies," She replied. _Looks like I'm playing delivery girl at the moment._ Naruto thought with a smile. "Have you seen Kenji lately? I swear that boy forgot about me.."

"Kenji? Can't say I have, but I think I can track him down. Ignoring his own granny? How disrespectful!" Naruto said the last part in a hushed tone, drawing a laugh from the woman.

"Thank you dear. I was going a bit frantic when I couldn't find the shipment." She brushed her palms over her skirt.

"Why are we getting more kunai anyway? I thought we were pretty stalked up?" Naruto sometimes went over the supply lists in the Kochaku Ki and she thought they were alright. After all, the kunai were really only used for shinobi training these days.

"The only times were we get this much weapons, is when there's a war. It was like this during the Third Shinobi War too. Well, there was a lot more then," The old women patted a kunai crate as Naruto took them out of the scroll and put them on the counter top. Naruto stared at her and pondered over her words.

"I guess I'll find out at tonight's council meeting... In the meantime, I'll find Kenji for you!" She promised. The blonde sealed the festival supplies into the scroll.

"Thank you Naruto! You should come over for dinner tonight, and bring Akarui with you. Now shoo, I got a store to run," Naruto laughed with the woman and said her goodbyes.

She walked out of the store, deciding on finding Kenji now, on her way back to Akarui. She raised her hand to her mouth and nipped at her thumb. When she bled, she placed her palm to the ground.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" In a poof a smoke, a white fox with three red tipped tail appeared.

"Hello Naruto, what can I do for you today?" The fox said cheerfully.

"Hey Yui! I need you to find that dumb friend of mine," She said as equally cheerful as the fox. Yui had been her first fox summon and one that most often appeared to help her.

"By dumb teammate, I'm assuming you mean Kenji." The fox chuckled and then sniffed the air. "I can't smell him in the village right now. His scent is sorta fading. He must have left the village for a mission or something."

"A mission! And he didn't even tell me! What kind of teammate is he? Alright, I'll get Kurama's help with this." She decided. "Do you mind taking this scroll to Akarui? It has some festival supplies in it." She took the scroll out and passed it to Yui, who promptly grasped it in jaws. The fox flicked on of her tails in goodbye and bounded off.

She watched as Yui left, swerving around people. The villagers were now used to having foxes running a muck in Kusa, as they had their very own resident fox. It was common knowledge in the village of Naruto's jinchuriki status. As the village's first jinchuriki, they treated her as anyone else as they had no bone to pick with Kurama.

The blonde jumped onto the rooftops, where she could travel quickly toward her home without being stopped by villagers. She didn't mind it, but she had promised Tanku-obasan to find Kenji. He wasn't in the village and a war could be breaking out right now. She was scared that something had happened to him.

**"Just be patient kit, I'm sure he's fine. If he can hold his own against you, he wouldn't go down so easily."**

"You're right Kurama. What am I thinking? I trained with him for years. I should know this.."

**"Maybe it's because you love him,"** Kurama replied, she could practically hear his smirk.

"No way bastard! He's my brother, and only that!" She shouted back in her head. There was no way she'd ever love him like that, she had once tried, but found it a bit unsettling.

The woman dropped down before the forest and jogged in. She preferred the peacefulness of the forest to use her Bijuu Mode when detecting chakras. It gave her room to concentrate. "Alright, here we go," She breathed as Kurama's chakra enveloped her a yellow flaming coat. Her eyes switched from blue to orange. Naruto searched for Kenji's chakra signature through Ki no Kuni. She felt a familiar chakra about 30 kilometres from the village which she recognized to be Kenji's. She sighed in relief.

**"What did I tell you kit? He's okay."**

She also detected about five unknown signatures behind Kenji. She drew in a grasp.

"Kurama! What if their enemy nins chasing Kenji? I should go help him."

**"Do what you want kit, I'm taking a nap."** Naruto rolled her eyes, it seemed like the fox was always napping. In the next second, Naruto was gone, leaving behind only the smallest swish of leaves.


	2. The Past's Arrival

Naruto was jumping from giant tree root to root, rushing toward Kenji. With chakra flowing in her legs for more powerful strides, the Bijuu Mode powering her up, and Kenji running in her direction, she was there in a mere 30 minutes.

As soon as Kenji's dark head came into view, she stopped on a root. "Kenji!" She called out, flicking out of her Bijuu Mode. The man faltered in his steps and stopped on a separate root.

"Naru?! What the hell are you doing here?!" He asked, panting slightly. There were dark circles under his grey eyes, he must have been running through the night. She looked for any panic on his slightly scarred face. She could see exhaustion clearly.

"Well Tanku-obasan asked me to find you, because she hasn't seen you for a bit, and in fact neither have I! Where the hell have you been?" The jinchuriki jumped onto the same root so she wouldn't have to yell. At least across the clearing between roots.

"I've been on a mission, you idiot!" He said, placing his palm over his forehead.

"Oh yeah! I sensed five other signatures behind you! Are their enemies following you?" She said, peering in the direction he came from.

"That's impressive, we've been cloaking our chakra since we've entered this country." A deep voice sounded from the trees, and five ninjas dropped in front of them. They all wore the same white cloak, with red stripes at the bottom. Naruto recognized the Konoha Hitai-ate and called up a quick genjutsu to cover her whisker marks that rested on her tanned cheeks.

"Stop Kushina, I'm escorting them." Kenji sighed. "It's just like you to jump into battle with questioning things. I honestly don't understand why they wanted you as leader. And to be dumb enough to pass it up." Naruto glanced at Kenji as he called her own mother's name, seeing his effort to protect her identity. Though he didn't know the whole story, he saw her need to be unnoticed by the Konoha shinobi.

"We're shinobi from Konoha, here on official business with the leader of Kusagakure and the Council." Naruto stiffened.

"**What will you do kit? You're part of the council."**

"_Well, I'd rather avoid them altogether." _Kurama nodded in agreement. "_But I guess I have no choice, I need to get over this wall."_

She ended her short conversation with the fox and tried her best not to let herself choke up. "So I noticed. Well I so happen to be a council member. I think we'll be seeing a lot of each other in the next few days. My name's Kushina, if you didn't catch that." The youngest adults in the group stared at her. "Um, what are your names?"

"Sorry about that, you look like someone we knew. My name's Sakura, this is Sasuke, Kakashi, Shikamaru, and Tenten." Naruto gulped, glad that she had hid her marks when she had the chance. Each person made some sort of gesture as Sakura said their names.

Naruto scanned over the group, taking in their defining features Most of them looked familiar in some way. Sasuke's hair was ruffled in the back, and to Naruto, it looked like a duck butt. His dark, almost black, eyes locked contact with hers. She quickly looked to the next person, finding his gaze piercing. Inside her naval, Kurama's uneasy growl went unnoticed.

She gaze then swept over the tallest man in the group, Kakashi. The name sounded familiar, she had heard it once or twice in the village. Kakashi of something. Naruto couldn't recall what it was. His grey hair (_How old is this guy?_) seemed to defy gravity, that or he used something to keep it up. His Hitai-ate was slanted over his left eye. _Almost like Satomi-sensei, yet I think he has a better reason than her._

Shikamaru dark brown hair added to his height, Naruto noticed. It was pulled into a spiky ponytail that stuck up in the air. Almost like a pineapple. She briefly wondered how he got his hair to do that. He also had dark eyes, like Sasuke and Kakashi. The other woman was named Tenten, who also had brown hair, had it placed into neat twin buns atop her skull. While her eyes were brown, they were light.

Sakura stood out among her peers with her short cherry blossom pink hair and her bright green eyes. Naruto supposed that she too stood out in Kusa with her sunlit blonde hair and blue eyes. "I do? To be honest, I don't leave the country much. Now that we're all introduced, we can keep going. I guess I overreacted a little, but our leader didn't tell me we were going to be having visitors." She replied forcing herself to sound cheerful. She would need to talk to Kusa's leader as soon as she arrived. Kenji muttered something that sounded like 'you're always overreacting.' The rest of the run was in silence.

Before reaching the village gates, Naruto separated from the group to reach the village first. She needed to inform the villagers to refer to her as Kushina for the time being. Kenji made sure to take extra long at the village gates. He got the OK in the form of a three tailed fox- Yui. The Konoha nin were surprised to see a three-tailed fox barrelling toward them, and that the villagers acted like it was an everyday occurrence. The fox leaped toward the dark haired man, covering his face with licks as soon as he had a hold on her.

"Kenji! It's been forever. Where the heck where you anyway?" The white fox asked with curious blue eyes. Yui was most like Naruto, that's probably why they got along so well. He sighed and gave Yui the same response as he did his blonde friend. "Oh. Well Kushina says it's alright now. And your obasan is really worried about you! So you should go visit her after you report in."

"You and Kushina lecture me on the same things, you know that?" The dark haired man said, placing Yui on the ground.

"Like summoner like summon!" Kenji raised an eyebrow at Yui's response, Naruto said the same thing.

"Fox summons? Interesting." Sasuke commented. Kenji just shrugged. Although he knew how Naruto got the fox summons, it wasn't the type of thing you told everyone. He remembered very clearly the first time Naruto showed them the summons.

_10 years ago- Forest Trainings Grounds_

_Team 5 waited rather impatiently for their other member, a loveable blonde. She was usually on time, awaiting the hour at which they would meet. Akarui was laying the forest floor, her brown hair splayed out under her. She had a simple skin tight black half-shirt on, with a pair of thigh length shorts on. Kenji, how was standing next to her, shoulder off his grey sweatshirt, leaving behind his mesh undershirt. "Kami it's hot today." Akarui groaned as she turned onto her stomach. "Where the hell is Naruto? I'm going to die if I have to wait any longer. This is our first training session since before the Chunin exam, I thought that she would be here a few hours early." _

"_A good shinobi has patience, Akarui." Their sensei chided. Though sweat slid down the side of her face, her mess of brown hair heavy on her head. It covered her right eye. When Naruto had asked if she had an ugly scar, she had simply moved it away and said it was more of a challenge to go about life with only one seeing eye. _

"_But every shinobi has their breaking point Satomi-sensei. Naruto is two hours late!" Kenji looked at the woman from the corner of his eyes. As if she was waiting for someone to mention that they were timing her, Naruto dropped from a tree above. Akarui was up in a flash, tackling the unsuspecting blonde._

"_You dummy! I could have died waiting for you." The brunette yelled, straddling her friend. Naruto used the body flicker technique to get out from under her. Kenji sighed. The two were the best of friends, but acted like oil and water sometimes._

"_Okay that's cool, but I've got something cooler!" She said with shining blue eyes. _

"_Ice cream? A gallon of ice water?" Akarui asked from the gound._

"_Nope! I've got summons now!" The blonde demonstrated by biting her thumb and slamming it to the ground. Akarui yelped and scrabbled to avoid whatever Naruto was summoning. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"After the smoke cleared, there sat a three-tail fox. _

"_Hello! I'm Yui, nice to meet ya!" The fox yipped. Satomi eyes widened in surprise. How on earth did Naruto even get these summons? She had never heard of anyone having fox summons, she didn't even think they existed. _

"_Naruto, how did you get these summons?" The older woman asked as she watched Akarui and Kenji examined the fox. At the question, both turned to stare at the blonde._

"_Well, after we were promoted to Chunin, Kurama decided to reward me, and let me sign the fox summon contract. I'm the first one! So that makes me kinda special huh? That's was I was late, I was practising." Naruto explained. "I'm sorry Satomi-sensei." She bowed her head in apology._

"_Don't worry about Naruto," The woman ruffled the teen's hair, not phased by the mention of the nine-tails any longer. "Today mark's the ending of Team 5." There were shouts of protest. "But it also marks the beginning of Team Satomi!" High fives were made around the group. "Now, let's get some training done before I take you guys out to eat. You deserve it."_

"She's unpredictable, no one really knows how she got them. One day she just started summoning them to do her errands. We don't really question it anymore." Sasuke 'hn'ed in answer. His face may be set like stone, but Kenji could see a glint curiosity in his dark eyes. The man's eyes narrowed, a feeling of defensiveness washing over him. The Tanku quickly diverted his attention to Yui. "Does leader-sama want the meeting to commence now?" Yui paused for a moment.

"Kushina said... Actually, I don't remember." The fox laughed. Kenji gaped at her before smiling. The Konoha group watched their exchange. Kenji bent down and ruffled the fur on top of her head.

"Looks like we'll just have to go to the Kochaku Ki, then." Kenji announced to the group, setting off down the center main road. It lead straight to the Kochaku Ki. Kenji watched as a group of children buzzed past him, streamers flowing behind them. And then a few genin going after them in a slower pace. The streets were already being decorated for tomorrow night and they were close to being done. Vendors would be setting up their shops the next morning. The village was loud and noisy as they prepared. It was always loud around festival times, especially now.

"What's going on here?" The girl named Tenten spoke as she glanced around the street.

"It's the Fox Festival. We have it to celebrate Kushina." Yui replied before Kenji could open his mouth, and that was all she said. It also looked like Yui didn't take a liking to their guests. It seemed like Tenten would ask why, but she didn't speak again. The civilians moved out of the group's way, staring and whispering as they passed. Some shinobi greeted Kenji, but most decided to keep quiet. It was a short walk anyway, and the group fell into a comfortable silence.

Naruto paced in front of Kusa's leader desk. "I just wished you had of warned me about them, so I wouldn't come face to face with them in the middle of the forest."

"I know you don't like this anymore then I do Naruto, but since we're allied with them, we have to meet with some of their representatives. Konoha and Iwa are on the verge of war and we're stuck in the middle." The woman replied, moving her dark brown hair that covered her eye. She reached across the desk and took Naruto's hand, massaging it for a little bit of comfort.

"I know Satomi-sensei," The blonde said weakly. A knock at the door interrupted further conversation between the two. Satomi moved her hair to cover her eye again. Naruto raised an eyebrow at her. "I like to maintain an air of mystery. Enter."

In came Kenji, Yui, and the Konoha group.

"Ah! Kenji, welcome back, I expect it went well seeing you have group following you that are not just woman." Satomi let go of the jinchuriki's hand and stood from her chair, circling to the front of her desk.

"Satomi-sensei!" The Kusa nin's face tinted pink as he was reminding of the group of girls that had taken a liking to him. They were only teenagers, eager to fall in love with an older man. And while Kenji did humour them, he didn't like people reminding him of them. Naruto smiled, seeing her sensei's side glance at her. She was trying to make the mood lighter for her benefit, and if she had to embarrass Kenji to do so, Satomi would do it.

The fox summon immediately crossed the room to her summoner, weaving herself around Naruto's bare calves. The woman crouched down, and stroked Yui's back absently. The white fox promptly looked up at her, posing a simple question. _Are you okay?_ Naruto slid her gaze over to the Konoha group, who were currently talking with Satomi, and then back to the fox. It was easy for Yui to tell she was saying _what do you think? _

"Well it looks like things are good here." She said abruptly and stood. "I'm going to go check on the busy bees now." She said, walking toward the window, opened it, and jumped out. Yui followed behind her. They had watched her leave, but returned their attention to the conversation as she disappeared from sight. Kenji's worrying eyes lingered for a few moments longer before being drawn into the talk.

Naruto didn't go find her busy bees. They found her. Sitting, or rather slumping over, on a bench with her head in her hands. Her hair was no longer pulled away from her face, it was encasing it. Yuki moved part of it like she would a curtain, peering up into the shinobi's face from her crouching position.

"Are you okay Naru- Kushina-sama? We finished what you asked us to do..." The girl stated slowly, unsure if her presence was welcome at the moment. The corner of the woman's mouth tugged slightly. She leaned back up, regarding the children gathered around her.

"Yes, I'm fine. You're done? Good good. What should you do now then?" The children brightened up, seeing as their favourite adult was okay. Yuki's brows were furrowed, trying to figure out why she would lie. They all glanced at each other, wondering over what they should do. "How about we go visit Akarui and see if she needs help with anything?" They nodded.

**Author's Note:**

sorry it's so short, i didn't have much muse for this chapter and it's kinda slow ;/; but hopefully the next chapters are more interesting. I want to have a schedule for uploading, and i was going to upload this tomorrow. But school starts back up again and i'll probably be hella busy.

**Kochaku Ki- **This means something along of line of anchoring tree.

Also i had to fix a few things from the previous chapter that i just caught now. I just realized that only the five great countries have kages! Whoops. A few timing things were off (the time of the fox festival). Nothing too big.

Thanks for reading!

- xerna


	3. The Fox Festival (Part One)

**Author's Note: **I did NOT do a good good describing these characters at all, and i really didn't have set designs for them (i am trash sorry) but now i do, so i can describe them better this chapter!

Naruto stood outside the Tanku residence, arriving for dinner just like she promised the old women earlier in the day. Back before her mood turned for the worse. Before the smallest spike of fear pierced her heart. Akarui had said she would also join them, but might be a tad late because of the festival. Naruto recalled her words. _"Maybe if you hadn't save__d__ the village a few times, I wouldn't be late." _They had both laughed.

The house was your average size, a cozy two story home. It was set off the left main road, nestled into the housing area. It was peaceful around there, mostly because a lot of seniors lived there. Sometimes the streets would be filled with laughter from their grandchildren playing with toys that their grandparents had bought them. Naruto had never had the luxury of doing so. She didn't have any grandparents, her parents dead, and she lived in an entirely different village. She was put right into the academy when she arrived, and worked hard every day. She hardly had time for playing. Still, she remembered Akarui dragging her from the classroom during break times to venture outside.

The woman tread up the stone path and rapped her knuckles against the door in quick succession. Kenji was the one to open the door to her. An incandescent smile spread over his tanned face, the scar swiping down on his right cheek crinkling. He had another one, straight through his right eyebrow. He had earned that one in the chuunin exams, and the one on his cheek from doing something stupid on a mission. She had too tilt her head up to meet his slate eyes, something she hated doing. His black messy hair looked especially messy tonight, and she believed it had something to do with his grandma.

The taller man reached out and snaked his arm around her shoulders, pulling her inside the house. She was instantly hit with warmness. Both the air and the aura. She had been feeling chilly so she was grateful. She breathed in the air, smelling the most delicious scents. There was the distinct smell of meat, beef to be exact. Her mouth watered slightly. Hidden underneath the beef, she could smell something that could only be dessert. Though she couldn't make out what it was.

"Smell's good, right?" Kenji said, looking down the hall into the kitchen. "Oba-san's practically been in the kitchen all day." The woman gazed down the hall, tempted to find out what exactly was going on behind the door. "Oh no you don't. Oba-san says no sneak peaks. Unfortunately." Naruto pouted and kicked off her shoes. She tidied them up and moved them to the side.

"Akarui's going to be late. Festival stuff." She waved her hand in the air and moved down the hall, turning right to enter the living room. The room was spacey, holding a few pieces of furniture. Paintings that Mirai collected over her years adorned the light yellow walls. Two pastel blue chairs and a couch sat in the middle of the room, a rectangular glass table separating them. Underneath was a yellow carpet, the same as the walls, most of the floor in the house was hardwood. Moonlight spilled in from the window, so Naruto didn't bother flicking the light switch as she passed.

Naruto trotted over to the couch, flopped down and stretched. She left no room for Kenji. Said man took a chair. "I find chairs more comfortable anyway." He commented as he sat. Naruto chuckled. She knew he was joking, Kenji hardly sat in the blue chairs, preferring the couch. In fact, he did the same thing to her if he got the couch first. "I won't pry about the Konoha thing, you know. If you want to tell me, tell me."

Naruto's blue orbs slid over Kenji's shadowed figure. "I know."

"I can't say the same of Akarui."

"I know."

Kenji sighed. He pushed out of the chair and rounded the table to the couch. The dark haired man slid his hands under her shoulder blades, leaning her up far enough to sit down. He rested her head in his lap, her blonde hair spilling over the side of the couch. His hand absently brushed over her locks. She turned on her side, moving her hands underneath her head. "I just hope they leave soon."

The topic was left at that. They sat- or laid for Naruto- in a comfortable silence, waiting for Akarui to barge in. She often didn't knock, not one for privacy, as they had learned over the years as her teammates. It was only a half hour later when the front door opened and a cold gust of wind blew in. Naruto shivered on Kenji's lap, a bit drowsy from the half nap she took on him.

"You guys getting a lovey-dovey without me?" The woman's voice could be heard from the wide entrance to the room.

"There's a whole couch here." Kenji replied smoothly. The honey skinned woman smiled broadly. She moved Naruto in a sitting position, and squashed the smaller blonde between them.

"So Naru, wha-"

"Akarui," Kenji cut in warningly. The brunette held up her hands.

"Dinner's ready!" Mirai Tanku's frail voice called out and Naruto bolted for the dining room. Akarui rolled her yellow eyes. Naruto was always the first to the table. She brushed her annoyingly wavy hair out her her face before following.

The Jinchuuriki gazed at the table with wide eyes, seeing one of her favourite dishes. Boiled beef sliced into thin pieces, with many different dipping sauces set in front of it. As she looked over the table, she picked out potato salad, and a broccoli dish. There was also one called ratatouille, but she didn't know that's what it was called.

They all settled at the table. "Itadakimasu." The group said and the eating began. Naruto and Akarui usually got first pick of the food, while they didn't understand why the Tanku's did it. Naruto was grateful at that moment because her stomach was growling as fiercely as Kurama at that point. They had idle chit-chat during dinner, about the festival, about missions, about the tireless children. The subject of Konoha was avoided.

And of course Mirai pried into Kenji's romantic life. She made sure to mention the congregation of girls and boys that follwed him. Akarui was barking with laughter, Naruto was near tears. "Oba-san! I told you before that there's no one!"

"Yes, but that was yesterday. A lot can happen in one day, you know." His grandma chortled, waving a bony finger at him. A loud sigh erupted from the man.

"Come on Oba-san, you know he only has eyes for us," Akarui gasped out after recovering from her laughter. She slung her arm around Naruto and drew her closer. They both grinned.

"That's right girls, how could I forget? I must be older than I thought." The elder tapped her temple. "So when's the wedding?"

"There won't be one."

"In a month." Two answers were given at once. Naruto glanced at her teammates who were playfully glaring at each other. She was glad that her friends were there for her, even though she didn't tell them what she was really feeling. That they tried to cheer her up without even knowing the story. She felt like if she was still in Konoha, it wouldn't be like this. It would be day after day of loneliness and pain.

Her hands clutched into a fist under the table. She made herself angry and upset just thinking about it. The blue-eyed woman shook her head and noticed that the three others were staring at her. "... Do I have something on my face?"

"You looked spaced out for a moment dear, having a conversation in your head?" Mirai asked, refering to Kurama.

"Something like that." She replied. Naruto looked up at the wall- the clock to be exact. She would need to leave soon as it was a big day tomorrow. It was already 9:00.

"Help me clean up the table and then we can have dessert." Kenji's grandmother said as she stood and begun clearing the table. They scrambled to help, because Mirai's desserts have always held a special place in their hearts. As they entered the kitchen, they saw the steaming pile of goodies on the counter. Ikinari Dango. Red bean paste and yummy sweet potatoes wrapped in the dough, shaped almost like a cookie.

The dishes were put away rather quickly, and a few minutes later they were standing around the kitchen enjoying their dango. "Do you think I'll have to show the Konoha shinobi around the village?"

Kenji shrugged. "Satomi-sensei would never ask you to. And I don't think the council would really think to ask." Naruto nodded and lapsed back into silence. After the plate was finished, Naruto decided it was time for her to head back home. She said her goodbyes, hugging each of them, before stepping into the chilly night.

Her house was on the other side of the village, so it would be a long walk. Running kept her blood pumping and her body somewhat warm. She didn't pass by too many civilians on her way, most already at home, or at the center main road. She was home in no time.

The blonde slipped out of her clothes, throwing back on Kenji's old shirt and crawled into her bed. Though she knew it wasn't cold in her house, she couldn't help but shiver. It lasted the whole night.

_The next morning-_

Naruto didn't wake to her alarm clock, or kids at her door. She woke to something hitting her window. She growled as she pulled herself out of bed, ready to strangle whatever was out there. She glanced at her clock, it read 6:14. She usually didn't get up till 7:00. When she peered out her window, there was a sparrow standing on her window sill. She raised her eyebrow. The kunoichi opened the window to shoo away the bird, but it hopped in. She then realized that there was a note tied to it's thin leg. She fished it off and unravelled it.

_Naruto,_

_The council meeting tonight is postponed till after the festival. The council seems to think it's a good idea to allow the Konoha shinobi to experience the festival. I couldn't really care less. You should take the day to relax, after all, you'll be stuck with them for a while I'm assuming. Trouble is just naturally attracted to you. I hope they won't find you were ever you go, even I don't want to face my old demons._

_Just a heads up that the villagers will probably refuse your help. I wonder who told them to do that? Anyway, today's for you, so sit back and relax, you hear? _

_Much love,_

_Satomi_

Naruto scowled. Why did she send the bird now if she wanted her to relax. She could have slept for another hour or two. That would be a blessing. Still she did her morning routine and got dressed into her usual shinobi outfit. She pulled the grey top over her head. It was sleeveless, and had a bit of a collar. Next were her pants, they were also the same grey, but had red strip running down the outside her legs. She pulled on her same color elbow guards and then wrapped her ankles up. She put her hair into a high ponytail, leaving two sections falling over her front torso. She wrapped her off blue Hitai-ate around her waist, then tied her weapons pouch around her thigh. At the door, she pulled on her shinobi footwear that were the same color of her Hitai-ate. 

She supposed if the villagers knew not to bother her, then the children would too. If they were going to refuse her help, then she wasn't going to bother leaving the woods for a while. When she exited her home, she jumped into the abnormally large trees and settled down on one of the as large mushrooms. She laid onto the somewhat comfy surface.

"**How are you doing kit?" **The next moment, she was inside of her mind. She looked up into the cage at Kurama. She hated coming here. To this location to be exact. She hated that Kurama had to stay in the sewer mindscape. She wasn't sure if she could change it or not.

"I wish I could make this place nicer." She commented aloud.

"**You're avoiding the topic. And you can. If you focus."**

So Naruto focused. She thought of someplace that Kurama would enjoy being. So she thought of a luscious green landscape, that had a long winding river splitting it. She imagined that there would be rocks where they where at, warmed by the sun. She thought of nice weather, no sun beating down on their heads, but a calming cloudy day with cool wind. And when she was finished, she opened her eyes. She didn't remember closing them.

And they were there. Easy as that. Naruto smiled widely, taking in everything she thought of. Kurama was no longer in his cage, but sprawled out in the grassy hills. He may have flattened a few trees as well. "This is much better, don't you think? It's been a while since you've gotten to outside like this. Guilt twisted in her stomach. She felt bad that Kurama had to stay in her until she died. That he had to stay inside her stomach for years on end. She knew what her parents had done, and she admired that they protected the village they loved. Naruto was sure she didn't share that love.

"I'm doing fine." She whispered as she climbed onto the fox's hand like paw. He moved his head closer to her, so that he had one eye on her.

"**Save that bullshit for the village. I know you're not okay. I saw what you dreamed of last night." **Naruto looked up into the big crimson eye of his. She could see concern glimmering in them. She didn't remember what she dreamed off, but the way he said it, she knew it wasn't good.

"Then I'm not okay. I'm a little bit scared. Scared about what Konoha coming means. What if I have to go back there? What if they know who I am? What if the Sandamie told them about me? That he wants me back to fight for Konoha? What if-"

"**Slow down kit. You're reading into this too much. I'm sure they're just here about help in the war. It's basically guaranteed that Iwa and Konoha will fight. They want Kusa on their side, after all, this country will be the battlefield."**

"Yes, you're right. Overreacting again.." The woman muttered. "Once their gone, everything will go back to normal." _At least I hope so._ "I wonder if my mindscape will stay like this? Do you like it?"

"**It's a lot nicer than that cage, I'll tell you that. I can stretch my legs finally."**

"That's good..." Naruto trailed off. She dug herself deeper into the fox's soft orange fur. The heat radiating off him was like a furnace. It made her feel a bit hot, because she too was like that. She was still learning things about being his Jinchuuriki. She tried to make this as enjoyable as she could for him. She remembered in Konoha how everyone hated him, and in turn hated her. Kurama wasn't that bad of a 'demon' once you got to know him. Or spent every waking hour pestering him. She remembered asking him why he was hated so much, not long after she left Konoha.

"_Kurama-san? Why do the villagers hate you so much?" The tiny voice of the girl asked. The nine-tailed fox loomed over her behind the bars of his cage. At her question, he brought his head closer to the ground._

"**_A man took control of me. He forced me to attack the village of Konoha with his sharingan eyes. An Uchiha. __Madara Uchiha.__" _**_The fox replied, but his memories of that night were foggy. That is what he could remember at the time. He spent so long asleep in the seal, that it took a while to regain his memories of the night. __Naruto didn't know what the sharingan eyes were, or who Madara Uchiha was, but she instantly disliked him._

"_But you didn't want to, right Kurama-san?" The fox reluctantly shook his head. He hadn't wanted to at _that _time. He had wanted to retreat and recuperate, then return to destroy the village that imprisoned him. There was no use holding that grudge now, his Jinch__u__uriki had left Konoha, not likely __t__o return anytime soon. "Then you aren't as bad as everyone says you are. Can I keep talking to you?" _

"**Something about that Sasuke makes me uneasy." **Kurama growled out, and Naruto pulled herself out of his fur.

"What about him? Is it his hair? That makes me uneasy too." She joked.

"**No... I can't tell you what it is. I'm not sure myself. But something about him just doesn't sit. There's something lying behind those eyes of his. I feel the same thing from the white haired one. Kakashi." **_Could the dark haired one be an Uchiha? He looks li__ke__ most Uchiha do, I suppose. But what about Kakashi? He's __definetly__ not an Uchiha. Why do I get the feeling from him? _Kurama continued his thoughts in silence.

"Kakashi? He's know throughout the nations as Kakashi of the... Something." Naruto laughed loudly. "I still don't remember!" Kurama's thundering laugh joined her.

"**Try to remember, idiot, or ask someone. It's a mission from me." **Naruto nodded, saluting him.

"I won't fail you! I mean, I haven't failed a mission you've se-"

Naruto felt her body begin to shake. She was confused to what was happening, as she had never experienced this while in her mindscape. "Kurama?!" The fox replied with a growl. Soon, the mindscpe vanished and she was back on the mushroom. She blinked a few times to rid her sight of the haze.

"- you alright?" She faintly heard. When she glanced at her shoulders, she saw gloved hands clutching them. The Jinchuuriki followed the limb to the person's face, revealing a masked man. She yelped and shoved him away, reaching for a kunai from her pouch. "Wait a second. It's Kakashi, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Kami, you scared me." She said with a shaky breath. She slightly thought back to the fox's words. What made Kurama uneasy about him? And about Sasuke?

"You scared me as well, your eyes were glazed over. You didn't respond and you practically looked dead." Naruto blinked at his reply. Is that what happened when she went into her mindscape? Or maybe it was just because she was pulled there by Kurama. Usually she shut her eyes before going. "What happened?"

"Oh well, sorry about that then. I was just uh... Thinking." She swallowed as she stood. That was half true. "Is there something that you needed?"

"We came by just to bother you. Some of the council members said you had the day off?" Naruto nodded, glancing down to ground where the rest of the group was. _Damn th__ose oldies__, I'm stuck with them now. _She didn't have an excuse not to be with them, as he knew she had the day off.

"Ah well, I suppose I could keep you company." She dropped off the mushroom onto the ground, not ready for this at all. "Just let me lock my door." Naruto didn't actually feel the need to lock the door, they didn't have many robbers in Kusa. And if they did, they would have picked a bad house to rob. She quickly pulled her key out of her pouch and locked it.

"Why don't you live with the other villagers, Kushina-san?" Tenten spoke up.

"Ah, well... I prefer solitude? Also, I keep watch over this section of the village." The solitude thing was a flat out lie, she loved being with the villagers. It was better than being ignored. Watching over the forest was true though. Tenten accepted the answer. Sasuke however, didn't.

The black haired man 'hmph'ed. "You're powerful enough that they leave you to watch over this whole forest? I find that hard to believe." The Jinchuuriki's sharp blue gaze flicked over to Sasuke. Perhaps she could settle Kurama's uneasiness about the man.

"Wouldn't you like to know? Maybe you'll see me in action someday."

"I'm not feeling patient today."

Naruto turned on her heels, a smirk lighting up her face. "Is that a challenge? I don't think our leader will like it if I injure one of our guests."

"Sasuke," The pineapple ponytail boy Shikamaru said with a drawl. He was silenced with a glare from said man.

"Now now guys, I don't think you have to fight, just stand down Sasuke." Sakura said, moving to stand between the two.

"Leave them be, their both adults." Kakashi pulled the pinkette away from the feuding shinobi. Naruto faintly heard Tenten worriedly ask 'will she be okay? Sasuke's an elite in Konoha!'. The blonde decided to make the first move. She fetched a kunai from her pouch and concentrated chakra into her legs. She aimed for the male, and they clashed. The clang from the kunai was familiar and it's been a long since Naruto's heard it. She could feel this would be an interesting fight.

She had the advantage here. She knew the area better than Sasuke. But neither knew each others jutsu, so it was a blessing and a curse. She felt a second kunai graze the fabric on her stomach, and leaped back onto a tree root. She didn't even notice. _I must be getting rusty._ Naruto decided that was the cause of her fluke. Sasuke's face held a triumphant smirk. _He must really think he's better than me. I'll show him._

Naruto breathed in, focusing on Sasuke alone. She slid into her fighting stance. Sasuke took on his own taijutsu stance. The two watched each other, noting placements of their limbs, watching for signs of action, and basically staring in to each others soul. After a minute of slight uncomfortable staring, on the spectator's part, Sasuke made a move.

He aimed a punch at Naruto's face. She leaned back and caught his wrist, pushing it away from her. Instead of just slapping blows away and simply blocking them, she would try to push their attack another way. This helped throw an opponent off balance if they were kicking. She then brought her index and middle fingers to his solar plexus. She channelled wind chakra into her fingers and pushed her chakra against his body. She didn't put much force into it, as her chakra would cut his skin. That was her usual intent with this move, but she didn't think Satomi would approve of harming the shinobi.

"Hnng!" Sasuke grunted as he felt the woman's chakra bruise his skin. It was a small poke really, but the pain was intense and throbbed. The black haired man slammed his shin into Naruto's waist, making her stumble to the side, losing her grip on his arm. _So she uses chakra in her attacks? Interesting. But __she can't beat me by bruising me._

While Sasuke doubted her skills, she initiated her second move. The Jinchuuiki approached Sasuke, dancing just outside of his range. He lunged for her, arm stretching in front of him to give her a blow. She struck then, sidestepping to the left and pressing wind chakra to the inside of his elbow. In turn, he ended up slamming his body into her, sending them both onto the ground. This was a fault on Naruto's part, for she put herself exactly in Sasuke's flight path. He had not been expecting her to step in front of him, so he didn't have the time to avoid her or try to land another blow. Naruto winced as she was slammed into the ground, her head dangerously close to a rock.

Sasuke had Naruto pinned underneath him. "Give up?" She laughed harshly.

"You don't know who I am." She slammed her fist into his solar plexus, returning to increase the previous pain. She was going to hit him as hard as a cyclone. Sasuke's eyes widened in pain and he coughed. She hadn't inflicted as many small bruises that she wanted too, but the fight was kinda timed.

The man scrambled off her and moved to protect the only other wound she had made. Naruto ran at him, not intending to dance around any longer. She would get him to uncover the spot and she would strike hard. His foot shot out before she reached him, and hit her with such a force that she flew back into the air. The blonde hit a tree root with a thud and gasped in pain.

She grabbed a hold of the root and flipped herself onto it. _Kami his blows hurt. _She hissed at the throbbing pain in both her stomach and back. She ignored the pain for now and breathed wind-infused chakra into her palm, creating the Spiralling Wind Ball. She launched it towards Sasuke, creating another one directly after for a rapid fire. They were weaker than her normal ones, meant to harm not to kill. They were fast, but Sasuke was able to dodge them. The chakra hit trees behind him, drilling into the wood. _Oops, guess they weren't as weak as I wanted them to be._ Naruto wasn't feeling that guilty about it. Sasuke looked indifferent, but she could tell he was glad he had dodged them.

The black haired man breathed in the air sharply. "Oh shi-" A blast of destruction came toward her in the form of a fire jutsu. She was weak against that with her wind jutsu. With a little bit a quick thinking, she decided to send to back to the user. Naruto opened her mouth and sent a wave of Kurama's chakra toward the fire. It was like the Tailed Beast Shockwave, but didn't require transformation, and was a lot weaker. She smiled when the flames collided with the shock wave, bouncing them back toward Sasuke.

Water spurted from the ground. The flames disappeared into a column of steam a moment before they hit the man. Her gaze snapped to the ground where Akarui was standing.

"And what do you think you're doing? I'd prefer if I didn't have to heal you every time you jumped into a fight." The brunette placed her hand on her hip.

"I wasn't going to get hurt, ya know." She shouted back, glaring down at her friend. That was a lie, she already ached from Sasuke's kick. But she knew that she got him better.

"Oh yeah? That's what you say every time. Now get your ass down here and come help me."

"It's my day off." The blonde whined as she dropped down beside her.

"Leaving the fight so easily?" Sasuke taunted from above. Naruto held her hands up in defeat.

"I'd prefer not to get on her bad side. Now what do I have to do?" Akarui began to explain her duties around the Akamine Shop, cleaning first of all, then helping her carry items to the people who needed them. She apologized to the Konoha shinobi for not being able to stay. They responded by tagging along. Naruto had groaned inwardly at this. Akarui had shot her an apologetic glance, she had been trying to save Naruto from their company. She noticed Sakura approaching Sasuke, instructing him to lift his shirt so she could check on him. _She's a healer? If Akarui finds out, she'll drive the poor girl crazy._

The walk was short and was mostly silent. Apart from the noisy main street where the festival was taking place. They had to walk down it, so there really wasn't any room for a conversation. When they entered the shop, Akarui quickly began giving orders. Sasuke had complained, asking why they even had to help. Akarui shut him up with a fierce stare and then told him he could leave. He stayed.

"So you're leader is called the Hokage, right?" The honey-skinned woman asked after they had gotten started. Sakura nodded.

"Yes, our current Hokage is the Godamie Hokage, Tsunade." Naruto heart fell a bit. She stared at the pale pink headed woman. The Sandamie was dead? Or retired? He was rather old when she left after all... Though it had been over 10 years since she's seen him, he could have died from old age by then.

"Tsunade? I've heard of her. Isn't she known as the Legendary Sucker? She came through Ki no Kuni a few times." Of course Akarui didn't know that Naruto knew the Sandamie, so there was no looks of sympathy on her face. Naruto hoped it would stay like that. Sakura grimaced.

"Yes, but she's a lot more amazing then you probably think of her! She taught me everything I know. I owe it to her for my healing abilities." Naruto's blonde head whipped up to stare at Sakura. She was awaiting the barrage of question from her teammate, who was obsessed with becoming Ki no Kuni's greatest healer. Akarui instantly grabbed her hand.

"You're a med-nin? I am too! I hope we can learn a lot from each other." Sakura laughed and agreed. The Jinchuuriki resumed her work in silence as the two chatted about somewhat confusing medical things. The back of her neck prickled, their were eyes on her. She turned to find Shikamaru, she had expected to find Sasuke. "Can I help you?"

"That was an interesting move you used during that fight. How did you push back Sasuke's fire?" She felt her blood turn cold. How was she supposed to answer that? She didn't know of any moves that used chakra like that, other than what the Bijuu did. Shikamaru seemed to notice this. "Ah never mind. You probably don't want to say." He paused. "I don't know how you do it."

"Do what?"

"Be on the council. My dad says I need to join it when he retires so I can take his place. It's troublesome." _Troublesome eh?_

"It's not all that hard. Just attend the meetings and input things here and there. Anyone could do it, I suppose." Naruto glanced out the front window, seeing the crowd move by as they prepared. _Speaking of preparing, I need to get ready soon._ The female hurried to finish her work. Her and Shikamaru held a small conversation, mostly him asking about Kusa. She was polite and asked about his village as well. He was sharp, and most went noticed by him, so she assumed he realized her discomfort with the subject of Konoha. She tried to play the role of interested minor country citizen, but he could see right through it.

"Alright, let's bring these supplies out. The stall owners will come by and pick out their items. I just want you guys to help them carry things," Akarui announced after the festival items were sorted into labelled boxes, checklists stapled to the top of them. "and set up if they ask." They made quick work of bringing them outside, all there was left to do was wait for the owners of the supplies.

Naruto found herself away from the Konoha shinobi for the following hours, helping set up and delivering boxes. One of her favourite stalls was the Mask Stall. She got to view the painted masks that the children made. While the artist had pencilled out the areas, she enjoyed viewing their work. At the end of painting the official masks, Hachi-san allowed them blank masks to paint. She found that sweet of him. They would always wear them during the festival, and made Naruto guess who was who. It was a challenging game, as they always made sure to cover their hair.

"Hey Kushina! If you're all done, let's gather the rest of Team Satomi and head to my house." Akarui called out to her as she finished placing trinkets on a stand. She waved in affirmation.

"I'll go get Satomi-sensei, she's probably in the tree." She yelled back before jogging down the street. Lone behold, Satomi was in the Kochaku Ki, slumped over her desk, scribbling on paper.

"Is your work enjoyable?" Naruto called from the open door. Satomi looked up.

"Very. Is it time?" The blonde nodded. The leader stood from her chair, leaving behind the dreaded paperwork. "I think the children did an excellent job this year with the streamers. This time they actually make sense." Naruto recalled the previous year, where they were strung anywhere and everywhere.

"I made them read a lot of books about decorating after that." She chuckled. They had groaned in protest._ 'We're not going to ask you to do it again if you can't do it right.'_ that's what she said to them. They were immersed the decorating books for the rest of the year. The tan woman admired their dedication.

"I wonder what outfits Akarui's picked out for us this year?"

"I hope they're not as flashy as last year. I'd like a simple one." Satomi hummed in agreement. They travelled toward to Akamine household, meeting Kenji and Akarui in front of the house. It was just like Kenji's. Most of the houses in the area where the same, only if you built your own house would it be different.

"Okay! So I know last year's had way to much too much going on, so I got more simpler ones. But they still look nice." Akarui promised and the rest of the team sighed with relief. "Now let's go get ready!" They entered the house. Akarui's parents, were in the hall leading to the door, making some last minute adjustments on their own clothes. They exchanged greetings, but they shortly afterwards.

"So I placed them all in covers, and their labelled. Find yours and go get changed somewhere." Naruto picked hers off the tan couch and headed up the stairs into the bathroom. When she unzipped the black cover, she was relieved to see black cloth. There was barely anything on the portion covering her chest. When she pulled it out, she noticed the white flowers and petals dappling the cloth at the bottom, leading up to the white obi. Naruto smiled and changed out her shinobi gear and into the yukata. She admired herself in the mirror for a few minutes, fixing out of place things and adjusting.

Akarui would want to do her hair, just like every year. She was better with hair then she was clothes. Naruto trusted her not to make a big mess of her head. She carefully made her way down the stairs, so not to trip or rip the yukata. Everyone else was just finishing dressing, and were standing at the bottom of the stairs.

Satomi she saw first. Her yukata was a navy blue, with a thin white grid pattern. Her obi was purple. Satomi looked pleased with it, it fit her perfectly. Her shoulder length hair had been left alone, but she brushed her bangs out of her face for the night. Kenji also had a navy blue one on, and it had soft white horizontal stripes on it. The tie around his waist was black and he was laughing, most likely at Akarui who was twirling around. The woman's was black, with bright blue clumps of flowers around her body. Her obi was the same color of the flowers.

"We look great, I must say." Satomi commented as Naruto joined the group.

"Of course we do! I wouldn't be seen with my dates if they looked like they walked out of a war." Akarui said, obviously talking about Kenji and Naruto. "Don't you have a date sensei?" A slight blush crept onto Satomi's face.

"Yes I do, and I better not catch you three sneaking around me! I'm getting old now, I don't want to be an old lady bugging my students because I don't have anyone else to talk to." Their sensei said, waving her finger at the three. Each had a impish smile on their face's.

"We won't do anything! Promise!" They chirped together.

"Besides, I think I'm going to spend the whole night behind a bottle." The blonde muttered quietly.

"Now! Hair time!" A look of fright passed over Kenji's face. "Not you darling, you're fine." A sigh of relief. Last year she didn't let him off so easily. He had been thoroughly embarrassed. His hair had been long enough to do something with, so Akarui put it up, much to his dismay. This year, it was too short.

Half an hour later, they were ready to go out the door. Akarui had put a flower hairpin into the beginning of Naruto's ponytail. It was mainly white, but the tips of the petals where tinged red. Akarui put her brown hair into a neat bun, donning the same hairpin as Naruto, but with blue instead of red.

Akarui then opened the door to either the best or worst night in Naruto's life.

**More A/N:**

Ahh I'm sorry this took so long! That fight scene put me off the chapter for a few days. I had to rewrite it a few times, but I still don't like it. This coming week will be busy, I have four tests when I get back to school ;-; I'm like a champion procrastinator so there was so many unnecessary things that I put before the chapter. I hoped you enjoyed it though! I will try to get the next chapter up quicker. Also I know next to nothing about yukatas and Japanese cuisine, so I just googled things. The beef dish looked so yummy when I watched how it was made :o

-xerna


	4. The Fox Festival (Part Two)

**Warnings: **There is language, and drinking((which doesn't happen till the end))

The streets were hectic. Foxes had flooded into the village, courtesy of the fox summoner. Children squealed and latched onto the nearest fuzzball. Some even got on the backs of the larger foxes. They didn't go past Kenji's waist, and he was pretty tall. The trio made their way toward the center main street, Satomi having split off from them to join her date. Her lips were sealed on who was the mystery date, but Naruto made sure that she would know. One of her fox summons was to tail Satomi, inconspicuously of course. She had chosen one of her smallest foxes, with only a single tail. His muddy brown fur helped him blend in the dirt road. _I can hold this over her head when the time is right. I'm sure she wouldn't want Akarui knowing._

"Now, let's have some fun guys! Kami knows we need it. These past few days have been stressful." Akarui jumped up in her spot. Naruto and Kenji agreed. _It__'s going to get more stressful__._ "I say we grab something to eat, I'm starving."

The brunette led them down the bustling street, weaving around people, with a determined look on her face. She knew the layout of the stalls, and apparently had one in mind. "This is a new stall, and I had a taste of their food. They call them beaver tails. They're so good, I'm telling you, I wanted to eat the whole supply of them right there." She explained as they approached the stall. There wasn't much of a lineup. Of course them being new had something to do with it. People tended to stick to foods they were familiar with.

Naruto could see a little cooking setup behind the counter. Presumably for cooking the beaver tails. "These aren't actual beaver tails, are they?" Naruto asked, stepping away from the stall. From what she could tell, beaver tails weren't appetizing, if they were edible.

"Of course."

Naruto shot her a look. Akarui rolled her eyes. "I'm just pulling your tail, calm down. They're like pastries, okay?" Kenji had gone to find out for himself and went up to order. The two women hurried after him.

"Welcome! We're selling our new product, called beaver tails! They're not actual beaver tails, so don't be worried. We have a rectangle pastry and then use toppings to give it flavour. What would you like to order?" Akarui and Kenji were ordering, while Naruto looked at what was available. You could customize it, or order off the menu. She decided to go with one called The Avalanche. The pastry was covered with cream cheese icing, then topped with chocolate coated butter toffee chunks. To top it off, it was drizzled with caramel. Akarui and Kenji had ordered the same one, Choco Banane. The beaver tail had chocolate spread over it, much like icing, and banana slices decorated the surface. While the Choco Banane did look delicious, The Avalanche definitely looked the best to her.

After she paid for her food, and waited around five minutes, the warm pastry was set into her hands. "This looks like heaven," She said as she eyed her snack. After biting into it, she decided that it was indeed heaven. Akarui whined a bit that she wished she had gotten The Avalanche, so Naruto reluctantly let her take a bit from hers. A colossal bite at that. She also offered Kenji a bite, thankfully he wasn't as rude as Akarui, but still took too much for the blonde's liking. After that, she guarded her beaver tail closely.

They enjoyed their food as they walked along the street, watching as the children ran by and deciding on what stalls they should visit. There was much debate over the stall, as Naruto wanted to go to the mask stall, and Kenji wanted to go get some goldfish. His grandmother had a fish bowl in her room, but didn't have any fish in it currently Naruto wanted to go admire the kid's work. In the end, Akarui decided where they would go next. First to the fish, and then to the masks. They stood in front of the stall, waiting for the group in front of them to finish. As they moved along, the trio stepped up.

"Will you all be fishing tonight?"

"Mhhmm!" Naruto hummed and fished out her wallet. After paying, they squatted next to the small pool. They received their _poi_ and almost immediately a challenge appeared.

"Whoever can catch the most wins." Akarui stated as she looked over the fish.

"What does the winner win?" Kenji asked, not glancing from the pool as well.

"The loser has to buy the winner what ever they want." She replied. "To determine who the loser is after this challenge, the two with the least fish have to fight. Like usual." In after thought she added, "Tonight."

The terms were agreed on. They started on Kenji's mark. Incidentally, it was Kenji was ended with the least number of fish. Breaking the paper in his _poi_ before he could even catch anything. He had moved the stick a little too fast through the water, not going to let his teammates win. Naruto got two before her paper broke, and Akarui managed to catch four.

"Patience is necessary sometimes." Akarui said in a wise tone, like it was some ancient metaphor. Kenji rolled his eyes at the brunette's words.

"You barely have any patience!" He shouted back. Akarui smacked him in the arm with her broken _poi_.

With their fish all bagged, they headed toward the Kochaku Ki, as the mask stall would be closer to it. "Look's like we're going to have a fight tonight, friend of mine." Naruto commented, wrapping her arm around his waist, as should couldn't put it around his shoulders without stretching up.

"I won't let you win so easily. My wallet depends on it." He glanced at her. She hugged him loosely with a grin, their fights were always fun. She had to admit that Sasuke wasn't bad at all, and she wouldn't mind facing him again, but Kenji was her number 1 sparring partner.

"So when are we going to do this, Akarui?"

She waved her hand in the air. "It doesn't have to be now, but I'll let you know. We're going to have _some_ fun before you two try and beat the crap out of each other."

Naruto and Kenji exchanged friendly banter almost the whole way to the mask stall. Both were fairly excited for the fight. To others, it would seem like they were threatening each other. Kenji made a comment about how long ago their last fight was. It had been months at least. The two shinobi were fairly busy with their duties.

Naruto was relieved that she could let some of her bottled up stress be released. She was relieved that she could have a night away from her troubles. Of course, that was too good to be true.

"Oh! Hello!"

The trio glanced over their shoulder's to find the two Konoha kunoichi. Naruto groaned, but it couldn't be heard over the crowd. They were wearing their shinobi outfits, which seemed right. They hadn't known about the festival, and they didn't celebrate it, so why would they dress up? Akarui stepped up to greet them. She was the most social of the team- despite her somewhat angry personality, she was always jumping to make friends.

"So how are you enjoying the festival? It must not be that much to you, I'm sure Konoha hosts bigger festivals then this." Akarui said with a smile.

"It's lively, I'll give you that. You're right, Konoha does host festivals, and they are quite bigger then this, but I think this one is just as fun. The size doesn't really matter, only if the village is involved." Sakura answered, looking around at the people.

"I suppose you're right. Have you gone to any stalls yet?" Naruto's mood was swirling down the drain as the conversation went on. Kenji seemed to notice this. He always picked up on what his teammates were feeling, and knew what to do to help. His hand gripped her smaller one and she flashed him an appreciative smile. It was silent support, something she needed at the moment. It wasn't too long before the rest of the Konoha Shinobi showed up and Naruto was forced into the conversation. She kept a tight grip on Kenji's hand, not about to let go. He only raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"There seems to be a lot of foxes around here." Sasuke said to Naruto and Kenji. "I've never seen so many, they're hated in Konoha."

"They're mine." Naruto growled, a bit defensive. Konoha really knew how to hold grudges, even 24 years after the Bijuu's attack. Sasuke shrugged.

"I don't really care about them." He glanced down to Kenji's and Naruto's hands. "So are you two together?"

Naruto started to laugh.

She didn't know why she laughed, but it was good. She laughed until tears formed in her eyes. Kenji was laughing with her. Sasuke looked confused, and a bit insulted. His eyes were narrowed as he watched them.

"Of course we're dating. Isn't that right sweetie?" Naruto stood on her toes and pecked the scar on Kenji's cheek. At this point, the dark haired man _was _crying. Akarui and the other shinobi were eyeing them oddly. Finally they calmed down. Kenji was rubbing the tears from his eyes, and Naruto was trying to catch her breath.

"Sorry about that, I think these two might have had something to drink before they came." That was a lie. "Otherwise, they wouldn't leave me out!" Akarui squeezed her way between them and pulled them to her.

To Naruto, it looked like there was jealousy in their eyes. Perhaps their teams weren't as stable and close as theirs is. She felt a sting of pity. She couldn't live without her team. They were her family. A world without her family didn't feel like a world worth living in.

"How about we do this now? I think everyone's waiting for it to start." Akarui glanced from Kenji ot Naruto. There was always a fight between two members of their team during the festival. It became a sort of tradition. The Konoha Shinobi were confused on what they were talking about. The trio made their way all the way down to to Kochaku Ki, where they usually fought, the mask stall forgotten. The other shinobi trailed after them.

People took notice of where they were heading, and soon a crowd was surrounding the three.

"Right, you two know the rules. No killing each other, and try not to destroy the place. Satomi will not be happy." Akarui clapped both of them on the back. "Good luck you two."

The brunette slid into the crowd, taking her place in the middle of the Konoha Shinobi. She began to talk to them, probably explain just what was going on.

"I bet 300 yen on Na-" She heard a retching sounds and knew somebody in a crowd elbowed the speaker. Hard. "Kushina!"

"200 on Kenji!"

Bets were being placed left and right while Kenji and Naruto watched each other. She glanced down at her yukata. She realized just like the years she fought, this one would be ruined. She grabbed the silky fabric just above her knees and ripped it. Some of the women watching the fight seemed horrified that she would tear such a lovely yukata. Naruto always thought that it would get ripped anyway, and it restrained her movement.

She half wished that she had left her Shinobi outfit on underneath. The blonde didn't think that she would need it, confident that she would win this year's primary challenge. She was falling out of luck.

When Kenji tore his, she saw his legs were clothed.

"Hey hey hey! Why are you wearing pants?" Naruto pointed at his legs.

"Just in case." The man answered.

"That's unfair," Naruto muttered, more then ready to deliver a beating now. There was no point to watching each other, the two sparred often. They knew each others bodies well to see their movements play out. They both ran at each other, smacking each others forearms together. Naruto aimed a punch into his gut, satisfied when he grunted. His foot collided with her shin and her legs crumpled slightly. She rolled backwards before she settled on the ground.

When she looked up, she was greeted with Kenji's smirking face. "I told you I wouldn't let you win so easily." He used his shin and hit her in the shoulder. She skidded through the dirt right into the crowd's legs. Two men behind her helped her to her feet and pushed her back into the circle.

"Come on Kushina! I was looking forward to spending all of Kenji's cash!"

That kind of encouragement could only come from their brunette teammate.

"I thought I taught you better!"

And there was Satomi. Perhaps her date as well? The blonde didn't have time to scout her out, so she instead pushed off the ground and met Kenji's face with a punch. _That will wipe that smirk off his face._ She knew that their match could go on for a while. They were pretty evenly matched in taijutsu. She would wait though, until the man offered to add ninjutsu as well. Then, they would have to move in the forest. She wasn't going to ruin the villager's hard work. Something told her that they wouldn't exactly mind, but the wrath of Satomi was something to be feared.

His fist neared her chin. She arched backwards to avoid it and slid into a bridge. From there she picked her feet off the ground and tried to kick Kenji in the gut. He grabbed a hold of her legs when her feet hit him, and twirled her. Rocks dug into her concealed whiskered face. She swung her leg toward him and caught his legs, bringing him down with her.

She scrambled on top of him, unrelenting with her punches. "Look Kenji," She huffed out as she hit him. "We both know this will go on for a while. Why don't you just give up?" His answer was his knee pressing against her back. Which sent her over his head. By now, she was covered in dust. She was a little pissed off too. "Okay then," The female grabbed Kenji's collar with a chakra enforced arm, and did her best to throw him into the air. As the man came back to her, she kicked him, launching him in the direction of the forest. Satomi taught her a few things about getting extra strength. She had never been able to get anywhere with it, with her lack of chakra control. She could use it somewhat, only to enhance it just a little.

Immediately the crowd left and scurried through the streets. A few people were left behind in confusion, but soon enough it would become clear why they moved. Naruto followed after Kenji- who was no longer flying through the air, but jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

With his back facing her, she decided to make a move. She formed a Spiralling Wind Ball and launched it toward him. Since he wasn't facing her and wasn't expecting it, the chakra ball hit him square in the back.

He fizzled away.

Naruto clicked her tongue, but smirked all the same. She often used clone techniques to confuse Kenji. It was his little way of getting her back. She pushed chakra into her legs and hurried to catch up to him.

* * *

_Sasuke's POV_

The onyx eyed man watched as the crowd dispersed to run after the two shinobi. Sasuke couldn't see the reason in this petty fight, shouldn't they be doing something more important? Like prepare for war? Sakura seemed to also think this, yet she was the one to voice her opinion.

"No, I think this is exactly what they should be doing." Shikamaru disagreed. "Unlike us, who are always under the threat of war, the minor countries have an easier life. They aren't used to being in a war, so I'm positive this has been stressing the villagers out." Sakura nodded, seeing his point clearly. This was the way for the villagers of Kusagakure to forget about the world's troubles for a night. He understood this now.

"I'm a little sad to see that yukata get torn. It was very pretty." Tenten sighed. "That's something Lee would do, I'm sure. That is, if we could get him out of the spandex." The group agreed wholeheartedly.

"Why don't we go watch the rest of the fight? It's not like there's much else we can do, and the only people we know here just left." The pineapple headed man said, looking in the direction of the forest. It was a sort of silent agreement, because the Konoha nin started drifting toward the trees. He saw an orange glow light up darkened parts of the streets. How did katon users not burn whole forests down? That made him wonder his the trees in the forest were just regular trees. If Kusagakure used it as a training area, they would have to be pretty durable, and flame proof. He couldn't think of a way off the top of his head, but the Uchiha was sure that Shikamaru would know. Of course, Sasuke would never ask him. He would just do some research back at home.

He listened to the muffled cheering floating from the forest. It made him question Kusagakure's shinobi's work ethic. Is this all they did? Fight for the entertainment of others? While he understood the need for it at the moment, the way the crowd was reacting, he assumed it happened often. Although, maybe the minor country shinobi villages didn't get many job requests. The Five Great Nations, or Konoha at least, were always overflowing with missions. There was always something for someone to do back in the village, but maybe this wasn't the case here.

"Get your nose out the book Kakashi, you're going to miss everything." His pink headed teammate plucked the book of questionable content from their former sensei's hands. He made a move to grab it back, but she quickly slid it into her pouch. "I don't think so," The white haired man made a very childish whining sound. Sakura just smiled sweetly at him. Sasuke was reminded of her subtle cruelty at that moment. "I think their fight will be interesting."

Sasuke's thoughts trailed back to that morning, to his own fight. She showed him a few interesting moves, but he wasn't stupid to believe that was all the council member had up her sleeve. It came as a surprise to him that the minor countries had powerful shinobi, powerful enough to match him. He'd never really thought much about it much, and only focused on the other four nations of the big five. It never struck him, that a minor country could be as much as a threat as a great nation. Well, maybe not that much of a threat, but still somewhere on the scale.

Kushina seemed to be an adequate shinobi, though without knowing her full abilities, Sasuke couldn't place where she would stand if she lived in Konoha. She could be a jounin, no doubt. Sasuke wondered if all the council members doubled as shinobi. _I wonder if all the council members are as young as h-_

"Sasuke! Come on, we're going to leave you behind if you don't start moving." Sakura called back to him. His focus snapped up to the road leading to the forest, where his comrades were currently walking. The man huffed and hurried to catch up with them.

In five minutes, they were standing back with the crowd. Kushina and Kenji were throwing weapons at each other. They were crouching on the giant mushrooms of different trees. He noticed that large puddle of water underneath them, and no fire. He knew the medic- Akarui, he believed her name was- could use water jutsu. He assumed she had used it to stop the fire from spreading. She had used it to distinguish his own fire attack that was launched back at him. Of course Sasuke _never_ mentioned the strange move that Kushina used to Shikamaru, and said man _never _reported back to him with his findings.

Though he did find it strange that she was so alarmed with Shikamaru's question. What was she so scared of? Why didn't she want anyone to know? It's not like just anyone could copy it. From what his comrades had seen, she didn't make any hand signs for it. It looked like he would have to find out the answers to his questions himself. Shikamaru didn't even _try_ to get an answer from her, he dropped it immediately after she paled. _Maybe Shikamaru's brain is figuring something out, it never stops running for Kami's sake._

"Watch out!" The dark haired man jumped out of way on instinct, and he was glad he did because the man named Kenji landed right where he had been standing. He felt a wave of chakra follow Kenji. He had felt it before, that morning. It was dark and menacing, and he shuddered as it lightly pushed into him. Shaking his head, he cursed under his breath. Why was he getting so worked up about the mysterious blonde of Kusagakure? He could barely pay attention to his surroundings. _I'll be glad when we leave. I'll never have to see her again._

A laugh caught his attention. The council member was kneeling on the ground. "You were right, you didn't let me win so easily. You can be such a bastard sometimes. I was supposed to relax today." She pulled herself to feet and walked over to Kenji. She then flopped onto the ground beside him, snuggling up to his body.

"_Of course, we're dating. Isn't that right sweetie?" _

Sasuke found his chest pulling on him a bit. Was he feeling.. jealous? He scoffed. He was jealous of their friendship, not like the man would admit that. He wasn't extremely close with his teammates. Kakashi and Sakura had a close bond, that was unlikely to break. Sasuke hadn't tied bonds with them, but he wasn't sure why. Yes, he was close with them, but they weren't inseparable.

"Well I'm the one who's going to go broke, so you deserve it."

Many people cheered, and some groaned halfheartedly. The crowd moved to collect their winnings and to congratulate Kushina. They also commented on how good the fight was. The Konoha nin said a few words to the tired shinobi before leaving for their inn.

The rest of the group chatted excitedly about Kenji and Kushina on the road. Sasuke noticed that Kakashi was also silent. He slowed down his pace so he could move in beside the white haired man. "What's your problem?"

Kakashi's eyebrows furrowed even further then they were. The Uchiha could tell their was a frown underneath his mask. "It's just that, I felt something familiar during that fight. I felt it before too, during yours and Kushina's fight." By know, the group was looking at him with puzzled expressions.

"Felt something?" Tenten prompted after he didn't continue his sentence.

"Hm. It was a familiar chakra, and it had an evil feeling to it. I know it was coming from Kushina. It doesn't make sense,"

"Isn't this your first time meeting Kushina-san, Kakashi?" Sakura asked, folding her arms behind her back. "I mean, she doesn't seem evil at all. You must have been mistaken."

"I felt it too, it followed Kenji to the ground." Sasuke spoke up. "And even this morning, when my jutsu was reflected back to me."

Kakashi glanced at the pinkette. "Us shinobi must see underneath the underneath. Maybe there's more to the esteemed council member then we know."

"When I was talking to her, she was asking questions about Konoha, but she was uncomfortable with talking about it. She also froze when I asked her how she repelled Sasuke's fire jutsu." The Nara man said, in a sort of answer to Kakashi.

"Right, well... What should we do?" Tenten glanced between the group.

"Nothing. She hasn't been hostile towards us yet. Let's just keep a close eye on her." He instructed. "I'll try to remember where I felt that chakra in the meantime."

* * *

_Naruto's POV_

Both were dirty beyond belief, their apparel ripped and tattered, but still wearable. So in the end, they both owed Akarui money- for the yukatas. Each had their own share of cuts. Naruto's would disappear in a matter of days like usual. Not being as lucky as the Ninetail's host, his were a reminder of his defeat. There wasn't much contempt in the two. They both had their equal share of wins, they were on even ground. That's how they liked it to be.

Satomi had disappeared before Naruto had sought her out, evading the blonde yet again. Hopefully, the fox she had shadowing them was still doing his job. Akarui stood in front of the duo. "Next time, there will be changing before the fights. I don't like the whole one use yukata. I actually like to keep mine if you didn't know."

"Uh-huh. So can we go to the mask stall now?" The two shinobi sighed. They knew the blonde had seemingly endless energy, but they just wished she could at least _act_ tired.

Nevertheless, the trio found themselves walking back toward the Kochaku Ki. Well, Kenji was shuffling. Every part of his body seemed to ache and scream for him to stop. Part of his brain registered this, but the other part saw this as another challenge against Naruto.

They walked in comfortable silence. The females of the team supported the reluctant Kenji, who grudgingly accepted it. Though Naruto left their side as the stall came into view. Her blue eyes were gleaming with pride as she looked over the masks hanging in front of her. It took a lot of patience for the children to paint inside the lines, when they wanted to splatter and mix colors.

Most of them resembled ANBU masks, a few were masks of creatures or comical looking humans. There was no shortage of fox masks, that was for sure.

"Didn't they do a good job? I can't wait to see their own masks though.." Naruto exclaimed when her teammates stood next to her. She looked over the wall of masks, deciding on which on she would get. She mulled over the for quite some time.

In the end, she choose a mask that had three thin triangles coming from between the ears, to above the brow, the middle on being longer. The sides had two equally thin triangles on each, the top one reaching half way across her cheek. Below the two circle-like eyebrows, there was closed eyes, giving it the smiling expression. Well, that and the mouth. The nose had a teardrop like streak coming to a stop above the nose.

She reached into her wallet and paid for it. Happy with her purchase, she showed her friends and put it on. They spent the next few hours wandering around the streets and enjoying each others company. Naruto met up with the eight children, who were disappointed and pleased that Naruto wasn't wearing a mask that they painted. After closer inspection, she saw only Hachi's name scrawled in black ink on the inside. They played games with the children for a while, until their parents came looking for them.

It was nearing 12:00 when Naruto decide to part from her friends. Kenji and Naruto had changed back into their previous outfits as it was starting to get cold. "I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be back later." She said with a smile, but her teammates both knew she wasn't coming back anytime soon. On the street closest to her home, there was a bar called Forest's Edge. That's where she was heading. She wasn't thinking of going there at all, as she tried to follow the 3 shinobi prohibitions, but she felt like she could really use a drink or two. She hooked the fox mask around her waist and pushed the bar door open.

She wouldn't say it was _empty_, but it wasn't full either. There was about 10 people scattered throughout the establishment. The bar counter was mostly empty, she she hopped onto a stool there. The blonde didn't drink much, but when she did, there was no stopping her. It made her feel ashamed that she was like this. A binge drinker. This often left her unable to remember what exactly she did the previous night, but since she was so close to home, she hoped her semi-conscious mind would be able to take to her bed.

A thunk brought her eyes to the counter. The bartender had placed a white bottle of sake in front of her. She followed the hand around the sake bottle to the round face that was encased in red hair of the bartender. "Haven't seen you here in a while." Naruto smiled gratefully.

"You make it sound like a bad thing Miharu."

"Ah well, you do pay a lot when you come here. I'm _supposed_ to look forward to see you walk through that door. Looks like I'm not, oddly." The women shook her head and pushed the sake toward the blonde. "You look like shit. This one's on me."

"You're kinder then the patrons of this bar make you out to be. I always hear '_Miharu threw me out' _or '_That Miharu's__ a bitch'."_

"It's necessary for my job. Sometimes I get people bitchin' about you in here."

The blonde snorted.

"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me." She took a sip of her sake, wincing slightly as the almost foreign alcohol slid down her throat. It tasted funny on her tongue, and she found herself wondering why she even bothered to drink copious amounts of something that didn't appeal to her. There were no answers for her.

A sudden thought struck her. She had forgotten about Kurama's mission. The Jinchuriki was not about to break her 'no failed missions' record. "Say, do you know a man by the name of Kakashi? I think his surname is Hatke? No... Its something like that."

"Hmm. Kakashi Hatake?" When Naruto nodded furiously, she continued. "I've heard about him from patrons. He's know as Kakashi of the Sharingan, or The Copy Cat Ninja Kakashi."

"Sharingan..?" Miharu shrugged in answer.

"Most of them are drunk, so I'm not sure if its right or not."

"No, that sounds right to me." _Sharingan. Didn't Kurama tell me about the sharingan...?_

"Oi! What do you think you're doing over there?" Miharu shouted across the room. "Sorry honey, give me a second."

"_Did you hear that Kurama?"_

"_**Unfortunately yes. **__**I knew there was something about Kakashi **__**that made me uneasy.**__** Usually only the Uchiha have to sharingan... Be careful of him kit. The sharingan eyes are dangerous."**_

"_How so?"_

The fox scoffed. _**"Have you learned nothing about those eyes?"**_

"_I've learned stuff! But I don't see how they're so dangerous. I could handle them." _She huffed back.

"_**I suppose you wouldn't remember. When I attacked the village, it was a sharingan that controlled me. The sharingan eye can still control me kit, so be cautious."**_

"_Ah! I remember a little now. But.. that's troubling news. Guess I'll have to be extra careful around him."_

Miharu returned to behind the counter, and Naruto could hear a man shouting profanities from outside the building. Kurama didn't answer her.

"How do you manage Miharu?" She asked, looking over her shoulder at the rest of the building.

"The same way you do."

The blonde grinned sheepishly. She didn't mange very well. She usually resorted to drinking, or sparring, or training. Though, drinking was one of the thinks she did the least.

"Are you not going to be in the parade?"

"I will. Just another version of me. When its time, I'll send a clone in." Naruto replied. Miharu tsked at her. This year, she just didn't feel like getting fawned over. There was no way that she was going on a float drunk in front of the village that admired her. A shadow clone would be just fine. She couldn't help feeling a little bit guilty about doing that. Her mood had gone down considerably since the arrival of the Konoha nin.

The blonde still couldn't remember the dream she had last night, the one that Kurama saw. He wouldn't tell her, had it been that bad? She could remember the feeling of heart tearing sadness and anger that boiled through her blood. Naruto never thought she would face Konoha again, so her grudge as a child had vanished over the years. There was still fear. Fear to return to the village that caused so much mental pain. This is why she drank away her sorrows. This was the night for it.

It would happen once every while. The emotions that she felt all those years ago would come rushing back, and she would drink to smother them. It was bad, and she knew it. She didn't know how to handle it. It scared her. She never wanted to feel like that again. _Once the council meeting is over, I won't ever have to see them again._

She wouldn't help feeling that she was very wrong.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **this chapter was tough, i had no idea how to get to the point i had in mind! With homework overload from my teachers and my writer's block, this took a while.

Before the notes, i'm going to reply this review~

Giulia- Yes, i haven't seen naruto a nin of a minor country before, so i thought, why the heck not? Naru needs more love 3 Naruto, her teammates (minus Satomi), and the Rookie nine are all 24 years old. You'll find out why Naruto ended up in Kusagakure in chapter 7, i'm excited to write that one. Also Kakanaru! I would love to make it kakanaru, but we'll have to see how things go. Even if this story isn't a kaknaru, I can guarantee I will be making Kakanaru stories (I love them so much omgg)

i added a new pov! The story was getting hard, because i didn't know what to write. I added sasuke's pov to get things rolling again for me. It worked well! so, you're probably wondering why i was referring to naruto as kushina in sasuke's pov. Since they don't know naruto's real name, any pov from the konoha nin, naru's name will be replaced with kushina.

Kakashi's becoming forgetful in his old age lmao he'll remember eventually, i'm not sure what chapter yet. Shikamaru cooking something up in that brain of his. Who do you think will figure it out first?

Yes, naru still knows the shadow clone jutsu in this au! It will be explained why she knows it in a few chapters. In chapter seven if my notes are correct. Though it's subject to change i guess.

If you're confused about anything that's going on, send me a message or a review or something~! Seeing all the favorites, follows, and reviews actually made me very happy! You guys are great!

If you want to talk to me, i'm on tumblr as sassyhakuryuu. I can start posting updates about the story on there.

Thanks for reading!

- xerna


	5. The Fox Festival (Part Three)

Naruto could barely register the hole that was being drilled into her little blonde head from a man at the corner of the room. She had downed five bottles of sake in the two hours she had beem there. It was questionable if she could properly produce a bushin for the parade before dawn at this point. She had felt guilty about it, when she was telling Miharu, but now all her previous feeling were being washed away with the burning liquid.

Naruto didn't pay heed to the eyes locked onto her, but the woman she was sharing a chair with did. They had been squished in the chair for around twenty minutes. There was no reason for it, there was plenty of chair scattered around the bar that could easily be moved. The woman had a messily cut angled bob, the color was a slate grey that was very appealing to Naruto. Hey eyes were also dark, a shade of brown. She was tanned and had relatively clear skin- save for the freckle on the left side of her nose.

The council member thought hard, but she couldn't seem to remember her name. Even in her drunken stupor, she made sure not to say another name. The last thing she wanted was to upset her companion. She was rather comfy pressed up against the brunette with delicate fingers running through her now loose blonde hair.

"Hmm... That man's captivated by your beauty, he can't keep his eyes off you." The owner of the delicate finger spoke up, her voice flowing smoothly.

"Man? What man?" Naruto peered up into the woman's eyes. She jerked her head toward the back wall. The Jinchuuriki tipped her head back to look in the direction she had pointed in. Sure enough, her eyes caught hold of the stranger's/ She was viewing him upside down, but she could make out onyx eyes between a tall collared black coat and an annoyingly large straw hat. "Doesn't this guy know you're not supposed to wear hats indoors?"

"Yeah? Why's that?"

Naruto shrugged. "Dumb if you ask me."

"You just said that you weren't supposed to." The brunette looked at her sharply. The wheels in Naruto's brain turned very slowly.

"Oh yeah! I did," She laughed at her own mistake, the other woman snorted and shook her head.

"Well, you should go see what he wants."

"Ehhh? But who needs a man when you've got a beautiful woman sitting with you?" Naruto whined at her new friend- or whatever she would turn out to be.

"Uh-huh. That beautiful woman isn't going anywhere so her chair mate can go see what that pesky man wants." The brunette stood abruptly, letting the blonde slip fully into the cushioned chair. She was promptly picked up and stood up right. "You think you can make it over?" She nodded in answer. "Then you're off."

Naruto's companion pushed her in the direction of the lurker. She was surprised to see he was not alone at the table- another man also sat there. She didn't know how she had missed him. He was pretty large. Like his stare-y eyed friend, his body was covered by a black coat with a large collar. She could see now that it had red clouds flitting about the fabric. His skin was blue. _Blue._ That was all she could see. He also wore the straw hat. She scowled in annoyance. But she recognized the look.

Even as she neared the able, the onyx-eyed man never adverted his gaze. _Well, he's not trying to be very secretive._ She rolled her blue eyes slightly. The blue skinned man looked up at her when she stood at the table. Naruto ignored him in favour of her admirer. "Can I help you?"

"Most likely not." The man replied. His voice was just as smooth as the woman's he had indirectly forced her to leave.

"Then why are you staring at me like that? You some pervert or something?" She eyed him carefully. He _did_ kind of look like one. Naruto knew what he was in actuality. It was easier to play clueless, even if they weren't a threat. The blue skinned man laughed and she swung her head toward him. "You're no better! You're an accomplice. Perverts get crushed by my fists, just to let you know."

"Slow down there, little vixen. My friend's just never seen a woman as beautiful as you, he can't help but stare." The other man explained. Naruto chose to believe his words. The admirer shot him a sharp red glare that when unnoticed by the woman.

"I'll believe you. For now. But if I see you two anywhere near the woman's side of the bathhouse, I'll flay you." She raised her fist at the duo. "Now, I'll be going. But I'm watching." Naruto spun on her heel and wandered back to the chair. The woman had taken up the whole chair while Naruto was gone, so she slid onto her clothed lap.

"Welcome back. What did he want?" She asked, swirling the alcohol in her martini glass.

"Something like you said. It's not important." It was. Naruto was still a shinobi, even when she was drunk, she still noticed things. She could detect lies easily, and while the blue skinned man lied flawlessly, she knew that is not why the onyx-eyed one was looking at her like she had a target on her head. The black coat with red clouds were a sure sign of Akatsuki. Naruto recalled hearing about the mercenary group around the village, and she had even seen them once or twice. They hadn't done anything _bad_ exactly, but only time could tell.

Her hand unconsciously drifted toward her stomach. Maybe not now, or anytime soon, but someone would come for the beast she held dear. It might be the Akatsuki, or another shinobi village. The tailed beasts meant power, and everyone wanted power. Even her. That was a shinobi life. Anyone and probably everyone would think she was crazy for wanting to protect a demon fox that only brought destruction. Naruto liked to think that it was fate that Kurama was sealed into her. She was happy to have him, he was like an estranged older brother. _Much _older. It was only natural to want to protect your close ones.

"Hey Kita! You coming home now?" A burly man called out from the entrance of the bar, puling Naruto out of her thoughts. The door was being pushed open by his hands and a breeze flowed into the bar. It brought fresh air, so she wasn't complaining, even if it felt cool on her skin.

"Nah. I'll see you at home." Kita. That was her name. _I know it know. _Naruto thought triumphantly.

"Alright, stay safe sis." And with that, he was out the door.

Kita rolled her eyes. "He'll never stop looking out for me, no matter how many times I tell him to stop."

"I think that's sweet. I don't have any siblings. My teammates do that for me." Naruto said quietly. They were probably wondering around the streets. Or getting the parade floats ready. Guilt washed through her once again. She should have stayed with her friends. She glanced at the wall to the analog clock. It read 3:10am. She brought her fingers into a cross and a clone puffed into existence. She gave her clone it's order and sent it off. It would be her stand in. The parade wasn't until 4, but she also gave the bushin orders to help out.

"Not going?" Kita asked, placing her hand onto Naruto's back when the blonde shook her head. "There's always next year, and the year after that, and the year after that. I think we'll always have this festival, even if you're not here."

"What, am I going somewhere?" She mused.

"Who knows? Some people follow the wind. Maybe you haven't gotten a good push yet."

"I think I'm staying. I've felt a few pushes, but I've always pushed back. This is my home, no matter what." Kita smiled at her words and rested her head on Naruto's shoulders.

"Alright _Kushina-sama,_ lets go play cards. Let's show the men who are the real kings of cards are."

_Sasuke's POV_

Sasuke groaned inwardly. He could have gone back to the inn hours ago, Kami knows why he was still out in the streets. They had been heading for the inn until Sakura suggested that they stay out for the rest of the festival, to experience the differences in villages or something. Shikamaru had been indifferent, and Kakashi had agreed without a fight as well. Reluctantly, he went along. He didn't _agree_, but the girl took it as one.

They had played a few games (not Sasuke of course, he hasn't played games since before he became a genin.), ate some snacks, and wandered up and down the streets. They had a pastry they had never heard of before, a beaver-tail. Sasuke didn't like sweets or treats of any kind, but they tasted alright. Sakura had practically shoved the piece of bread down his throat, saying something about 'being ungrateful for the opportunities he gets because of these missions'. Since when did eating become an opportunity? Perhaps for Chouji, but not him.

The black haired man never partook in the festivals in Konoha, unless forcefully dragged into it by Sakura. She was one of the only ones who had _really_ forgiven Sasuke for leaving the village. The Konoha Eleven had skirted around him for the first few months he had been back, avoiding him like he was some plague. The whole village tread around him carefully- if he was capable of killing a Sanin, they were sure he could kill them and get away with it. Sakura treated him almost like normal, except, she hit him when ever he did something stupid. And it _hurt_. That was something new to him.

Sakura was happy to have him back, to almost have Team 7 whole again. Their first member had died of an incurable illness after their chunin exams. The whole team, hell, the whole Konoha Eleven knew it was coming. That didn't make it less hard. They watched as Kimaru slipped in and out of consciousness with hollow eyes. Kimaru knew it was coming, and he told them not to be sad, and not to cry. He told them to become the best shinobi in the village, to go down in history. It was an unknown fact that Sasuke followed his last words closely. Even after leaving the village the following night.

Kimaru had been his first friend that wasn't an Uchiha. The brown headed boy had been like Sasuke in a lot of ways. He was regarded as one of the 'cool kids' much like Sasuke. He even had some sort of a fanclub. They would talk about how annoying the girls could be. They chatted often about how annoying Sakura and Ino could be, the two girls who had frequently feuded over Sasuke.

Sakura had always been regarded as the weakest link of Team 7, he assumed it hadn't changed while he had been gone. When he returned, he couldn't have been more wrong. It was their first sparring session with Kakashi that he realized that Sakura had matured. She no longer had a crush on him, and fought just as well as him. When the spar had first started, he hadn't heeded Kakashi's warning to be careful, and was hospitalized for the next few days. He was surprised when the Godamie had came in with Sakura. Tsunade Senju, the Slug Sanin and Hokage of the Leaf had taught he once weak teammate. He had a strong feeling the blonde elder didn't like him. She simply watching Sakura heal him with a small smirk. The pink head had apologized profusely, claiming that she thought he would be able to dodge it. She hid a smirk under her bowed head that day.

At the moment, he was wordlessly following his friends around. It was another hour until the parade that marked the ending of the festival. At least, that was what he was told by Kushina's teammate, Akarui. When they had next talked to her, around one, she had been a bit upset. She quickly said it was nothing, but Sasuke noticed that the blonde was missing from the scene. She hadn't shown up in the ten minutes the conversation stretched over.

They walked close together, almost like a school of fish. Much like a school of fish, they parted to go around things before falling back into place. The village wasn't all that big, they must have did a couple of laps around it by now. He would say that they were in the Southeast sector of the village. It covered half of the forest, some shops, and some housing. The apartments and house were tattered and old. He wondered if anyone even lived in them.

"Why do you think they hold this for Kushina-san?" Tenten asked, chewing on a dango stick.

"You could just ask someone." Sasuke looked away disinterestedly. He was very interested though. What made Kushina so special that she got a whole festival? Kakashi was a huge asset to the village, but you didn't see them throwing him parties every time he saved their asses.

They passed by a building- a bar by the smell that was wafting out of the open door. _Forest's Edge _read the blue neon lights above it. The 'o' was burnt out. A large man stood just outside, talking loudly to someone named Kita inside. As they passed the door, he glanced inside for a moment before it firmly shut. He could have sworn he saw the head of one Kushina inside, but quickly tossed that idea. What respectable council member holed out in a musty bar for their own _festival_?

Sakura heeded the Uchiha's advice and walked up to the man who had just been at the bar door. When the man turned, she greeted him with a friendly smile. "Hello, we're staying here for a few days, and we were wondering why this festival is held. A fox told us that it was held for Kushina-san?"

The man looked confused at the name. "Kushina?"

Sasuke stared at him. These people seemed to hold her in high respect. How could he not know who she was? When he looked to Shikamaru, he had his knuckles pressed to his lips. The corner of Sasuke's mouth twitched. There was nothing Shikamaru couldn't find out. The jounin would be taking his father's place as lead strategist in Konoha when he retired or passed.

"Ah! Kushina-sama. Sorry about that, I must have drunken too much." The man said, jerking the thumb over his shoulder at _Forest's Edge._ Sasuke detected nervousness laced in his tone. He could smell sake on him, but it was faint. Either he drank it long ago, or didn't drink that much.

He was lying.

"Kushina-sama has done many things for our village, we're very thankful that she came to our village."

"Came to your village?" Shikamaru asked, stepping toward the man. His hands had returned to their usual spot. His pant pockets.

"Uh, yes. Kushina-sama arrived here when she was ten. I don't remember all the details of her arrival, it was so long ago. You'd think she was born and raised here. I do remember she came here by herself though." The man paused. "I'm getting off track, sorry. She's saved our village many times. You're from Konoha yes?" He got confirmation from Sakura before continuing. "Us minor countries end up fighting a lot, for more territory or food. Ever since she became a jounin, she has been leading our shinobi to meet our enemy. Even as a chunin, she played a part in our victories. We all respect her for that."

Sakura thanked him for the information and the Konoha nin grouped back together. "Do you remember hearing about some powerhouse shinobi? Back in the village?"

Tenten answered her. "You think it's Kushina-san?"

"Sounds like it." Kakashi answered, pulling a black book out of the pouch hanging over his rear. He quickly leafed through it's pages and shook his head when he closed it. "She's not listed in the bingo book though. I can't say I expected her to be. We don't pay attention to the minor country shinobi as much as we should."

"But is she really Kushina?" Shikamaru asked his companions. Sasuke stared at him, trying to understand what he was hinting. Who else could she be? "I mean, that man was clearly confused when we called her Kushina. If he could remember what age she was when she got here, he should be able to remember her name. And not to mentioned he lied to cover up his mistake."

Sasuke slowly nodded. "She was not born in Kusagakure, and came here when she was ten. It's possible she's trying to hide something from us." _But why would you want to hide where you came from? Why would you go through the trouble of changing your name when foreigners came to your village? __Unless.._

"Konoha must have some part of it. She was uncomfortable talking about it, you said Shikamaru. Maybe she was born there?" Tenten theorized. Sasuke admitted that it did make sense. "She could be someone we knew, but they said she came ten years ago. I can't remember much from then." The shinobi apart of the Konoha Eleven agreed. That was before they became genin, still in the academy. Sasuke hardly remembered anything expect the massacre.

"We'll need some more time and evidence before we can draw a final conclusion. Even then, we can't make any moves until we confirm our findings." Kakashi finished. "For now, lets enjoy the festival and as I said, keep a lookout." Sasuke didn't miss the glint in his former sensei's single eye. He assumed the older man had thought of something, but Kakashi didn't make a move to share his thoughts. The Uchiha watched him for a few more seconds before returning to not listening to his friend's babbling.

Kushina- or whoever she was- was an enigma to the shinobi. She seemed so open and readable, but in truth, Sasuke still knew next to nothing about her. She was more guarded then she appeared. Almost like him. Without knowing her, one could think she was your average shinobi, with little to no brains. No one would be expecting a slim blonde woman to be capable of destroying waves of enemy forces on her own. At least, that was the way these villagers were making it out to be.

The Uchiha felt a bit of anger. He trained with a Sannin and killed one, and yet there was people still more powerful then him. He supposed that was the way of life. There would always be someone better. He _could_ learn from her. Find out how she received her power. After facing her once, he could tell she was powerful. Sasuke had certainly never witnessed a jutsu that could reflect weapons- let alone other jutsus.

The council member was a mystery. One that he intended to unravel. Sasuke Uchiha almost always fulfilled his goals.

So deep into his mind, Sasuke didn't notice two figures wearing black cloaks with red clouds leave the bar behind him and sushin away.

_Naruto's POV_

Naruto threw her cards down onto the table. So much for showing the men who the kings of cards were. Kita on the other hand, was smirking triumphantly as she raked in the yen that was piled in the middle of table. Naruto's wallet was almost empty, if she lost this next game, she would need to find a mission to do. If she couldn't find one in the mission, she always went to mercenary work. It was frowned upon, but Satomi didn't seem to mind. How else were they supposed to make a living if there's no work?

She watched the other man sweat nervously and they looked into their own wallets. They obviously weren't accustomed to being beaten by a woman who randomly joined their game. She snickered, but she was in the same hole they were. As Kita dealt out the final round for the group, Naruto leaned back in her chair, passing it up. She closed her eyes, oddly content even though she had just lost most of the money in her wallet.

This had been a good stress reliever for her. A little time to unwind and let loose could do wonders for a person. She was aware that after tonight, there would be none of this. Not for a while. Not until that idiotic genin is found, or the war is won. Maybe the genin was carrying important information, and Konoha wanted it. Or maybe they just got lost and fell into a ravine. She was amused by the second thought. Even a genin wouldn't be as stupid to fall into a ravine. Either way, she didn't care. She only cared that her country would get pulled into it. Minor countries don't have that much money, so they certainly couldn't pay for all the rebuilding necessary after a war on their land.

A chair scrapped loudly against the tiled floor. "Oi, you're cheating! I want my money back, you bitch!" Naruto opened a single blue eye to glare at the man. He was pointing a crooked finger at Kita, who was across from him. As Naruto observed him, he had a lot of crooked things. Like his nose, and some teeth. She even saw one or two empty spaces. He didn't know how to stay out of fights.

"Oh yeah? Prove it oldie." Kita slammed her palm over her cards defiantly. The man reached across the table to pick up her cards. Coincidentally, a few cards with the same design as their deck, slid out of his sleeve and tumbled onto the table. He made a move to pick them back up, but with a skilled ninja sitting at your table, there was no way he would be getting them back. She swiped them up in a second, spreading them out in her hand.

"Who's cheating?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at him, a smirk apparent on her tanned face. He plan of action was to most likely snatch away the winnings in the final round. Make Kita go all in so he would get back his money and some. Naruto admitted it was a smart plan, one she didn't see coming. Most cheaters settled on winning every round. Perhaps he noticed Naruto sitting at the table, and realized that he would be found out, so made a scene to get his money back and get out of the bar.

Even she hadn't caught onto to it until he made a move for Kita's cards. With nimble fingers, he could easily switch out the cards, or drop the new ones into her lap. She suspected the reason for the crooked appendages and teeth, and the missing teeth, was from getting found out. He did this often. "You don't have much luck, do you? Maybe you shouldn't swindle where shinobi are, who knows what will happen." With a quick hand sign, she created a tiny flame in her palm. She watched the man's dismayed face as they burned. "I suggest you leave," The blonde ended with a fake smile. The man left immediately, not wasting any time.

Kita scowled. "Honestly, how do they even think they'll get away with it here?" Naruto shrugged, people believed many stupid things. This one thought he was good enough to cheat under a shinobi's watchful eye. Admittedly, the blonde didn't noticed until the cards fell out of her sleeve. Maybe she had drunken too much... "I'm going to by us another round of drinks with my newly earned money, then."

_The next morning_

Two kunoichi walked down the dusty roads, chatting about the festival the night before. Their destination was the bathhouse, nothing was better than a nice bath after a long day or night.

"Maybe the reason why she's the newest powerhouse is because she's getting help from a demon. That's a good explanation for the evil chakra." Tenten said, careful not to say the council member's name. If the whole village was involved, they would report the women to the leader.

"That could be, but demons aren't exactly common. The only demon we know of is the Kyuubi, but it's gone anyway. In any case, most the Bijuu are sealed away, roaming free, or gone. I'm sure that there isn't many Bijuu roaming free. There would be a scramble for them and we would know about it." Sakura replied, following the bend in the road. They would be going past Kushina's house, as the bathhouse was just on the other side of the forest. The weapon specialist nodded.

"I wonder how Shikamaru is doing with this. She's a giant mystery. I'm not sure if I understand her fully."

"Even if we knew the truth behind her, I don't think we could even begin the understand her. Shikamaru seems to be wrapping his head around this, but I think Kakashi has it figured out." Sakura answered thoughtfully. Like Sasuke, she had noticed Kakashi's change in attitude after their second discussion on the council member. He hadn't made any attempts for retrieve his Icha Icha book from her, and had been a little bit distracted, and relieved and the same time. Sakura learned to read Kakashi when she was training under him. The face is where the emotions of a human are displayed, but with most of it covered up, you had to _really_ _know_ Kakashi to pick out what he was feeling. His eyebrows had been furrowed, but his step was light, and she could almost pick out a smile against his mask after a while.

_What did Kakashi learn?_ That was the big question. The man didn't say anything, he didn't give anything away about what he was thinking. Did he figure out who Kushina really was? Sakura thought he would have shared this piece of information. True enough, it wasn't their mission to know Kushina's true idenity, but it was something that they couldn't seem to get off their minds. Sakura would feel bit of disappointment if they didn't learn who she was. Kakashi was protecting her identity, no doubt in Sakura's mind. But _why?_ What did Kakashi think he owed the blonde, to keep this away from his fellow shinobi? She felt a bit of annoyance toward the silver haired man.

Tenten's elbow jabbed her in the side. She breathed sharply and turned to scowl at the other kunoichi. "Look over there, isn't that Kushina?" Tenten jerked her head toward a building to the right of the duo. Tenten saw correctly. It was Kushina settled outside a shop called the _Forest__'s__ Edge._ Fitting for it's placement. It was right on the edge of the forest. She was huddled up on a bench, a grey fuzzy blanket drapped over her. Her mouth was open slightly, but no drool had trickled from the corner of her lips. Her head was tilted back so that it was resting against the shop's siding. The two directed their path toward her, forgetting about the bathhouse for a moment.

The stench of alcohol was strong, it hung heavy in the air. The _Forest's Edge_ was a bar. It didn't take a genius to know that Kushina had stayed the whole night there. It was fairly close to her house, couldn't have someone taken her there? Ino would have loved to be here. This would be considered scandalous in Konoha. Drinking was one of the three Shinobi Prohibitions. Women and gambling being the other. "Should we wake her?" Sakura asked uncertainly. It would be better to sleep off a hangover, she knew this from Tsunade, unfortunately.

Tenten frowned, deciding to wake the sleeping shinobi. She prodded Kushina in the shoulder and stepped back when she stirred. "Five more minutes Kurama. I'll get up then." Kushina rasped, pulling the blanket up over her head. Sakura and Tenten looked at each other with raised eyebrows. _Kurama?_ The pinkette automatically assumed that this Kurama was her boyfriend. But then again, she did seem pretty close to Kenji. They had just been making fun of Sasuke although...

"Kushina-san! It's morning, and you stink.." She wrinkled her nose at the familiar scent of sake. Kushina's eyelid fluttered open to reveal dull blue eyes. Her hand raised to the block the sunlight from her sight, and her eyes narrowed to make out the figures in front of her. In an instant, her eyes widened so far that Sakura though they would pop out of her head, and she bolted off the bench. Sakura patiently waited, knowing that the headache would kick in at once. "Three.. Two... One." Kushina clutched at her blonde hair, her face screwed up in pain.

"Uggh. And this is why I shouldn't do this." Kushina groaned. "My back and my head are killing me. I don't remember much of last night..."

"It was the Fox Festival, remember? Did you spend the whole night in that bar? I thought we saw you on that float." Tenten interrogated. Kushina''s expression turned sheepish.

"Uh yeah, I did. It was a clone." Her answer piqued Sakura's interest. Clones weren't able to touch things, but this "clone" of Kushina's had even picked up children. She had heard of a clone technique created by the second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, that could do this. The Kage Bushin no Jutsu. Not many people outside of Konoha knew the technique. _Another thing connecting her to Konoha. Even so, the scroll's locked up in the Hokage Tower. How would she get a hold of it?_ "What time is it?"

"Around 9." Tenten told her. Kushina slapped her hand to her forehead, then winced. Sakura chuckled. She wasn't helping her headache much.

"The meetings in 2 hours, at 11. You have some time to get sorted out." Sakura commented, knowing she had probably forgotten. "You shouldn't haven't gotten drunk, this won't be enjoyable for you." She added.

"Not like it was going to be enjoyable in the first place..." Kushina mumbled, but the Konoha kunoichi couldn't make out what she said. "Shit..."

"Hey dumbass!" A women called out angrily. The three followed the direction of the voice to see Akarui walking toward them. "You're an idiot, you know that? I should have stopped you, but hey, I was thinking it might be good for you to be alone. Now look where you're at! You slept outside of a _bar_."

"Akarui, _please." _Kushina pleaded, cupping her hands over her ears. Akarui rolled her yellow eyes. She wasn't pleased at all. There was a pregnant pause.

"... Fine. But when you don't have a headache I'm going to give you such a tongue lashing." The med-nin threatened. She slipped an arm under Kushina's, hauling her off the bench and onto her feet. "You can keep the headache, but I'll help you get cleaned up. It's a punishment for doing something stupid."

Sakura raised her eyebrows. It seemed Akarui didn't take anything from anyone. The honey skinned women flashed them a smile before dragging Kushina away from them and toward the giant trees.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

I always forget to add these when I upload the story! Whooops. Sorry this had taken so long, I've been given my 2 cumulative assessments and I'm going on a trip with my grade to Toronto in 2 days! It's been pretty busy and hectic, but I was determined to get this uploaded before I left, and I did it :-)

I know nothing about the effects of drinking and things like that, and I only get two hours on internet per day, so research is kinda limited. We didn't get to see much of drunk Naru because of this. Also, Itachi and Kisame make an appearance! I think someone asked for some Itachi and Naruto interaction, so I stuck it in there. It might not be very relevant to this story now, but maybe later on, or even in another story :D

Kakashi is on the case! He's pretty much figured it out by now, or so Sakura and Sasuke think! (They're right) I wonder why he isn't saying anything?

Thank you so much for the reviews! It's always nice to see people that like your work 33

guest- here's the update! For some reason your review isn't there? but I got the email, thank you!

Grule – thank you! and yes, I agree! Narusasu/Sasunaru is my otp, so I may throw in hints of it, I'm not sure how it will go quite yet. It may end up working for the story, who knows!  
Thank you for reading and until next time!

-xerna


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